


Saving him

by Ashs_Empherion



Category: Rurouni Kenshin
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Play, Anal Sex, Blood and Gore, Blood and Injury, Blood and Violence, Depression, Drugs, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, F/M, Gang Violence, Gangs, Gay Sex, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Kidnapping, M/M, Non-Consensual Drug Use, On the Run, Rape Aftermath, Rape Recovery, Rape/Non-con Elements, References to Drugs, Suicidal Thoughts, Threats of Rape/Non-Con, Threats of Violence, Violence, Yakuza
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-10
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-07-28 21:26:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 15
Words: 24,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16250114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashs_Empherion/pseuds/Ashs_Empherion
Summary: Sanosuke stumbles across an attractive red-head who despite his tiny size and deadly sword on his hip, makes him want to defend him, to fight for him. What does it mean when all Sano wants to do is protect the tiny man from those who'd use him, which causes his heart to want to jump out of his chest?General Warnings: violence, abuse, non-con., yoai, adult themes, swearingAshitaka





	1. Part One

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin, nor do I make any profit from this story. The owner of these characters is solely Nobuhiro Watsuki. This story is AU so as such, I have taken several liberties with the timeline of the original story which is parallel to my story, just like an alternate universe. With my own original characters added in as well.
> 
> Chapter Warnings: None applicable for this chapter
> 
> This is a Sanosuke x Kenshin centric written mainly from the first-person point of view of Sanosuke. It's the first time I have written a story like this, so please forgive any errors on my part. Italics indicate a character thinking to themselves.
> 
> Definitions of the Japanese terms used thus far:  
> Dojo = a formal training place for any of the Japanese do arts, but is typically thought of as a formal gathering place for students of any Japanese martial arts style.  
> Sakazuki = a flat, saucer like dish for drinking sake  
> Tokkuri = a small, usually ceramic flask for serving sake  
> Sake = refers to any alcohol in Japan, but commonly to rice wine or Nihonshu  
> Zanbato = a huge blade with no edge and can pretty well only be used to smash or crush opponents  
> Sakabato = a sword with its blade reversed, still a deadly weapon
> 
> Ashitaka

Sitting in the small bar, he lifted yet another sakazuki of sake up to his lips to take another sip. _Ah. This is the way to relax._ Smiling slightly to himself, he set the sakazuki back down on the table, and used the back of his hand to swipe his hair away from tumbling into his eyes. Leaning back, he closed his eyes slowly as he reached to take another sip from it, reminiscing of the afternoon he spent watching the beautiful redhead. How with his kimono sleeves tied up, he could watch as the smaller man's biceps work as he did the laundry; how his small hands would grasp and work the fabric. _I wonder what it would be like to have those hands grasp and work me._ Blushing, his eyes flew open and he poured more sake into the sakazuki. _How could I even think that way! There's no way I should be thinking like that! I don't even know the man!_ He paused in his drinking to wonder to himself about the small man. _Why is it that he seemed to always be working away at house work anyways?_

Whatever the reason, the red head seemed to have definitely earned his keep at the dojo, but he couldn't understand why he wasn't ever working at his swordsmanship. He had seen the redhead carry his sword at his hip whenever he left the dojo, so he knew he must have some skill to justify carrying it with him. He shook his head before slamming the tokkuri of sake down onto the table and downed the entire sakazuki in one go. Standing, he reached down and grabbed a large wrapped package that was leaning against the wall beside him before marching out of the bar.

Once outside, there was a commotion going on just outside of the restaurant across of the bar he was at once curious with the huge crowd of onlookers he joined to find out what was going on. To his extreme disbelief, it was the tiny redhead standing with his sword drawn, facing down a few thugs, shouting some nonsense at them.

He pushed his way through the crowd closer to the goings on to observe what was going on. Once where he could get a good look, he could tell immediately that the redhead was greatly outnumbered as well as looking nervously around himself with large violet eyes. _How did I not notice the color of his eyes before?_ Shaking his head, he stepped forward laughing loudly.

"It takes six of you thugs to take down one kid? Makes you all seem very pathetic, doesn't it?" He cocked his head to the side and grinned at the thugs who were all staring at him, along with those beautiful violet eyes.

"Urm, this one does not need your assistance, no I do not." The tiny redhead spoke quietly, shifting his weight to get into a better defensive position.

Laughing, he strode over to the man, "No, you might not feel I need to help you, but I am going to because it's obvious to everyone here that you need the help, so you just need to accept it." Reaching the smaller man, he grinned down at him, he added "Besides, you've just made my day that much more interesting, do you really want to take that away from me now?".

Flushing, the small man lowered his eyes to the thugs slowly circling them as they were speaking. "As you will. But this one does not take responsibility for what happens to you, no I do not."

"That is fine. I did not ask you to. I can fight well enough." He reached up and uncovered his zanbato and dropped the cover to the ground. "My friend here is all I need to defend myself." He added grinning to the stunned faces of the thugs who appeared to be beginning to regret entering this fight. Turning to look down at the smaller man, he was shocked to discover that the sword he was carrying was a sakabato! _How does he expect to defend himself with something so useless?_

"Usagi," one of the smaller thugs stepped towards the biggest one, the one presumably the leader and tugged on the bigger man's sleeve. "Usagi, is that what I think it is?"

"Back off you wimp!" The man shouted and shoved him away from him. "It is a zanbato. But he hasn't moved to the offensive or defensive positions yet. I think that he is only bluffing with his tough guy routine. Why would anyone stop to help a worthless wimp like him anyways?" Laughing he crossed his arms but didn't move to draw his own sword.

_Like he is one to talk about tough guy routines!_

Laughing, he stepped forward and moved into an offensive position with his zanbato only to stop when he felt a small tug on the back of his coat. Looking over his shoulder, he noticed the smaller man staring up at him with his eyes wide. "What can one do to convince you to not do this?"

Straightening up from the position, he smiled down at the man and reached around to remove the small hand from his coat. "I do this because I want to, not because I have to. You don't need to worry little one." Turning back to his opponents, he grinned a feral grin and shouted at them, "I will not back down as long as you continue this harassment!"

The large man laughed shortly before rearranging his face back into a snarl. "Draw your sword gentleman! Show us what skill you have! Or is it just for show? To prove your manhood?"

"This one does not carry a sword to flaunt it as a symbol of power. This one has nothing to prove to you or anyone else." Kenshin lifted his chin and straightened his spine moving once more into a defensive position. 

"Then seeing as you refuse to draw it, and your stubborn dog refuses to back down," referring to the tall man with a slight wave of his hand, "I will show you my power! Men, get him! Kill the tall one, take the redhead alive!" He shouted as his minions charged the two of them.

Sano roared as he swung his zanbato sideways and sideswiped the smaller minion who had spoken up earlier, breaking his sword arm and sending him crashing to the ground. In the time, he took to get back into his offensive position, the red head amazingly drawn his sword and leapt into the fight as well as already laid waste to one man and was almost through his second. By the time he finished with his opponent and looked up, the redhead finished with the other minions and had the point of his sword at the neck of the leader of the group.

The large man was whimpering, begging for his life, from the same small man whom he had taunted only moments earlier about his manhood. Murmured words passed between the two which ended with the redhead nodding his head and lowering his sword. The large man dropped to the ground with his jaw dropping as well. 

The small man turned back to Sano with a small smile on his face as he replaced his sword in his sheath and walked over to him."This one can only thank you for your assistance. You are a great fighter. This one owes you a debt of gratitude. How can this one return the help you have given?"


	2. Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Warnings: Violence, Stalking
> 
> Definitions of Japanese terms:  
> Gi = A shortened kimono style shirt  
> Hakama pants = Pants worn by samurai  
> Bokken = a wooden practice sword  
> Koshiunke - coward  
> ijiwaru - malicious, spiteful, or bitchy. Take your pick! :3

Sano made his way through the gathered crowd beside the small redhead who looked up at him shyly, blushing slightly. He quickly averted his gaze to look over the busy street until he felt a small hand slip into his own, fingers interlocking with his own as he was gently pulled into a nearby alley.

"Whoa...wh... what?" Was all that that he could he could stammer out before the smaller man stood up on his tip toes and pressed his lips to Sanos. His eyes widened as he looked down, but didn't break away from the soft lips pressing against his own as he used his own tongue to beg entry into the man's mouth. The smaller man pressed his body into his even further as he fisted his hands into the front of Sano's coat.

Moaning, Sano wrapped his arms around the small man pulling him tighter against his body, gaining entry to the others mouth as his tongue explored the new territory. His normally loose pants were beginning to feel constricting as his hands began to lower to grope the other man's bottom. Startled, the redhead pulled his mouth away blushing, but was unable to pull out of Sano's arms.

"N... noo... no. This one can't do that! Please! Please let this one go!" The smaller man cried out as he squirmed and wiggled to get out of his grasp. Sano looked down at him with surprise, concern spreading across his face.

"Why? What's wrong little one?" Confusion evident in his voice.

"This one... this one thought this one could do it, but this one can't! This one is very sorry! Please...forgive this one!" Finally breaking free from Sano's grasp, the redhead turned and bolted back to the street.

_Well what the hell?_ Sano pushed himself off the wall to chase after the other man following as best as he could through the busy streets. He followed him until he came back up to the side entry of the same dojo that he had observed the man at earlier. _Well...while I'm here...I may as well go back to my post._

Sneaking back around to where he had hidden himself previously, he had an excellent view into the dojos courtyard where he could see the other man kneeling in the dirt in front of a very angry looking black-haired girl in a gi and hakama pants. In her hands, she held a bokken which she was applying across the red heads back who appeared to be clutching his hands into fists in a way to perhaps to stop from crying out. Sano couldn't make out what she was saying to him, but whatever it was, it wasn't kind. _What on earth could you have ever done to deserve that kind of treatment?_

Clenching his own hands into fists to prevent himself from charging out of his hiding spot to stop the cruel dark-haired girl, Sano glared at the sight before him in the dojo's courtyard. The beating had finally ended, and the girl gave a final kick to the petite mans side causing him to collapse to the ground before taking off inside. He had yet to move to get up as Sano seethed in anger as he let his senses both bodily and emotionally run wild.

Sano left his zanbato back in his hiding spot to free his hands up as he crept closer to the courtyards rear gate. He waited impatiently for a while to ensure that the girl wouldn't return nor would anyone else wander into the courtyard before he picked up a branch from the surrounding forested area and wiggled it around under the gates latch to open it. It creaked quietly as he pushed it open and let himself through, leaving it open as a means of escape once he was finished what he had come here to do.

Sano rushed quietly over to the crumpled man's small body where he had fallen unconscious, breathing unevenly from his beating. _That koshinuke ijiwaru!_ Gritting his teeth, Sano bent down and gathered the man into his arms, getting back to the gate where he left the courtyard. After slinging the zanbato across his back, he set off towards his home, with the petite man in his arms bridal style, where he could tend to the man's wounds.

After entering his house, Sano laid the petite man out on his futon before working to untie his obi and remove his old gi from his torso and turning the redhead onto his stomach to take a look at the wounds on his back. On seeing the reddened marks on the man's slim muscled back, laid out over what appeared to be old scars, Sano inhaled harshly and grimaced. Shaking his head, he gently covered the man with his kimono once again and ensured he was safe and comfortable before heading out to the community well to fetch some fresh water to boil to begin the arduous task of cleaning the wounds.

As the water was set to boil, Sano set about gaining up clean linens and bandages to begin his first aid. Once boiling, he ladled some out into a bowl and soaked up a cloth before removing the kimono once again and starting to gently wash the dirt and grime out of the wounds. Sano worked silently, no noise was made in the small house other than the splash of the water and the small moans coming from the unconscious man. But after a few hours, Sano had succeeded at cleaning the many wounds from the beating and after bandaging them up, he re-covered the man up to protect him from the evenings chill and set about starting a soup for their supper.

Presently, the man started to stir, moaning softly in pain as he moved in his attempts to sit up as Sano moved to his side, helping him to a comfortable sitting position before retreating. He couldn't tell what the man was thinking as he appeared to be looking around the room from under the protection of his red fringe that fell in front of his eyes. After what seemed like eternity, those violet eyes made their way over to where Sano sat beside the fire, with a questioning look in their gaze.

"You're the man from earlier today." The man's soft voice broke the silence of the house.

Looking from the fire to where his guest was sitting at, Sano scratched his cheek thinking of where to start. There was just too many things he wanted to get out but he got the feeling they may just have to wait for now, that he may not welcome any questioning right now.

"Yeah well, you did need my help back there. What was a little guy like you going to do against a gang like that?" Sano grinned at the man.

"Oro?" The small man's grew wide, and his face flushed which was curiously adorable for Sano. 

"Yup. Well, I doubt you feel up to moving around much right now. But I do have some food ready if you feel hungry. Just some soup, as I don't think you should have anything too heavy after just waking up with an injury like that." Sano began to ladle up a bowl of soup for the small man. After it was full, he moved to hand it to the man. "Will you be okay eating it on your own? Or would you like me to help feed you?"

Blushing, the small redhead flashed his eyes to the steaming bowl in his hands and shook his head as he began to eat the soup slowly and painfully on his own. Sano sighed resignedly. His life just took an interesting turn.

Sano watched the small man eat the soup slowly as he fought to keep his eyes open only to have his chin drop to his chest and the bowl rest in a precarious position ready to spill on his knee. A small smile rose the corner of his mouth as he set his own meal aside and moved to the other man's side as he set the bowl aside and gently shifted him to rest against him as he worked to loosen the man's clothing so he'd be comfortable while he rested. Once done, he laid him down on stomach so as not to disturb his wounds and moved back to his meal to finish eating.


	3. Part Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Warnings: None

"A small smile rose the corner of his mouth as he set his own meal aside and moved to the other man's side as he set the bowl aside and gently shifted him to rest against him as he worked to loosen the man's clothing so he'd be comfortable while he rested. Once done, he laid him down on stomach so as not to disturb his wounds and moved back to his meal to finish eating."

It was a few days of Sano cleaning the wounds, redressing them, and wiping the smaller man's brow as he succumbed to a fever before he finally reopened his big violet eyes again, looking Sano straight in the eye causing him to fully blush.

"I'll get you a drink! Some tea! I... I... I don't doubt you are very thirsty right now!" Sano stammered as he rushed to get to his feet as a small, yet very strong hand snaked out of the futon and grabbed his wrist halting his efforts.

"Please don't leave this one." A small voice left the small man. Looking up at Sano with wide eyes he opened his mouth to say more as Sano sat back down beside the futon.

"You know little one, I still don't know who you are. Can you give me a name to call you by?" Sano flushed as the small hand moved from his wrist to his hand where it gave a gentle squeeze.

"This one is called Himura. Kenshin Himura." Kenshin's small face flushed as he looked up at Sano. "What may this one call his rescuer?"

"Sagara. Sanosuke Sagara. I only did want anyone else would have done. I wouldn't have left you behind."

Kenshin flushed even more so. "This one has never experienced such kindness from anyone before Sagara-sama. This one feels a great need to repay this life-debt to you." Kenshin averted his gaze from Sano's piercing gaze. "This one will not run away anymore from whatever you wish in return."

Blushing even harder than ever before, Sano let go of Kenshin's hand causing him to return his gaze up at him, only to gather him up in his arms and set him in his lap.

"Oh Kenshin! I know just want I want you to do! I want to keep you with me, by my side! Don't ever leave me, ever!" Kenshin's eyes grew wide, his face flushed as Sano held him to his chest gently, looking down at his fiercely.

"Okay Sagara-sama. This one will never leave your side."

The days seemed to fly by as Kenshin's presence in Sano's household and life grew as if there had always been a spot waiting for him to fill. He would watch as the small redhead would move throughout the house performing a number of household chores.

As it would turn out, Kenshin was a marvelous cook as well as homemaker. _He'd make a wonderful wife had it not been for the fact he is a man._ He thought to himself with a smirk on his face. With Kenshin around, there was no need for a woman in his life, and he could finally get that pestering Megumi off his back. She was really into him right now, but with the beautiful redhead in his life now, he didn't need her pestering him all the time. _Beautiful? Where did I come up with that?_ He startled himself out of his Kenshin watching.

It wasn't like Sano didn't think that the small Kenshin wasn't good looking. Obviously, he thought he was, but wasn't beautiful something that was meant for women only? When did he start to think of Kenshin in those terms? Shaking his head, Sano got up from his seat where he had been watching Kenshin, startling the smaller man.

"Is something wrong Sagara-sama?" Kenshin set down his work and moved to stand in front of Sano and grasped his hand.

"No, nothing's wrong little one." He looked down at the wide violet eyes looking up at him and smiled. "I just need to go for a little walk to get some fresh air. Please, don't worry about me okay? I'll be back in a little while. Be good and stay inside. I don't want anything to happen to you while I'm gone okay?"

Kenshin's face lit up as he smiled up at Sano, making Sano's heart skip a few beats. "This one will be careful and wait for your return Sagara-sama."

Ruffling Kenshin's hair, Sano laughed," We've really got to work on you calling me by my name little one."

Kenshin flushed bright red and lowered his eyes to the ground then. "This one cannot do that Sagara-sama. Kamiya-sama always beat this one if it forgot where this one's station in life truly is." Sano looked down in shock at his little redhead. Reaching out, he pulled the smaller man to him and held him to his chest.

"Little one, it is not like that here. You are not my servant. You are my companion. My equal. I love you." Kenshin's eyes widened at that, and looked up at Sano. Even Sano was a little shocked. Up until a few minutes ago, even he was unsure of his feelings but it seems that as he talked to Kenshin, things just clicked unconsciously and he was able to realize his own feelings!

**Kenshin's POV:**

My eyes widened at Sano's admission. I never suspected that this man would ever feel that way about me. Sure, many people said that they liked me. They liked my face, my body, my silence, not that they actually really liked me or even that they...loved me. Sure, it was nice feeling to stay in a place where I didn't have to tiptoe around a rigid set of rules. The man treated my wounds, fed me, clothed me, and all that while asking for nothing in exchange except companionship. No sex. Not so far. I worked around the house, cleaning and making meals so as to avoid the eventual beating that I would get for not providing the man some sort of service. So, this would have to do.

After ruffling my hair, Sano grinned down at me as he pulled me into his chest, holding me tightly as his heart pounded so hard, I thought it was going to pound right out of his chest. _This is it. He's going to take me now. At least he seems the gentle sort._

"What about you Kenshin? Do you like me too? Even just a little?" The taller man asked, his breath caressing the top of my head. Flushing as I tilted my face up to look at the brunette's face, watching as a flush creeping across the other man's face as he asked his question, as if he was hesitant to know the answer.

"This one does like you Sagara-sama. You are a kind man, you have been good to this one. How could one not like someone like you?" I answered softly, adjusting my gaze to the corner of the room noting a bit of dirt on the tatami mat I'm going to have to work to get out later.

"Good. I am glad to hear it." The taller man grasped my chin, tilting it up towards his own as he lowered his lips gently down on my own, kissing me softly.

After a moment, Sano pulled back before licking his lips and leaning in again, brushing his lips against mine gently. I could only respond with a harder kiss, my tongue licking the others lower lip, begging for entrance into Sano's mouth. 

Sano moaned as and hesitantly moved his tongue into my mouth to clumsily explore. I kept kissing and exploring with my tongue until Sano broke away from me gasping for breath, flushed.

"Wow...just...wow." Sano grinned down at me, before kissing my forehead as he crushed me to his chest once again. "Who knew kissing could be like that?"

_I didn't think that Sagara-sama was THAT inexperienced!_ I felt my own flush crawl across my face at Sano's words.

"Well, I think I'm going to go for that walk, and let some fresh air cool my head now." Sano gently pushed me away from him before turning and leaving the house, leaving me only able to stare in his wake and this turn in events. _Where did that come from?_


	4. Part Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Warning: Kidnapping, Violence, Gang
> 
> Japanese Translations or Author's Notes:  
> Mibu no Okami = Direct translation into Wolf of Mibu  
> Sakazuki = a flat, saucer like dish for drinking sake  
> Tokkuri = a small, usually ceramic flask for serving sake  
> Sake = refers to any alcohol in Japan, but commonly to rice wine or Nihonshu
> 
> **_Lyrics of Never Gonna Be Alone by Nickelback_ **

**Third Person POV:**

A figure stood in the shadows across from the entrance to Sagara's home, watching as a young man left the home, walking down the empty street singing a drinking song to himself. Turning, the figure nodded to another in the shadows who turned and ran from the scene while a third stealthily followed the young man away from the home leaving the figure alone in the shadows, an evil grin spreading across his face.

**Kenshin's POV:**

Reaching out for Sano as he walked out of the house hurriedly, I dropped to my knees in shock. _What have I done? He cannot possibly love me! It is only a matter of time before Kamiya-sama finds me, what will happen then? Will he just turn me over to her once he's had his fun? Oh god...I'm so confused! I don't know what to do. I don't know what to think. Should I run?_

At that last thought, I realized I had been kneeling in that same spot for a while, long enough that it had grown quite dark outside. _If I'm going to run, I need to do it now. I need to keep Sagara-sama safe from Kamiya-sama and her yakuza! Who knows what they will do to him! I can't let him get hurt because of me, not after everything he has done for me._

That decided, I nodded to myself as I got up, grabbing my sword on my way over to the door. Just as I was pulling it open, someone shoved the door in knocking me backwards. My eyes widen as I realized just who was standing in the doorway.

She grinned down at me maliciously before turning the men who were crowding their way into Sano's home, sneering down at me. Her blue-black long hair was tied back in a ribbon and she had bound herself to wear her gi and hakama, giving her unrestricted movement.

"Grab him! I think it's about time that he learned who owns his ass." Her eyes narrowed down as she looked at me, speaking without turning to whomever she was speaking to behind her. A large man stepped into the house, around her, smirking horribly down at me. He reached down to twist his hand into my hair as I flinched away from his touch, reaching up to try to pull his hand from my hair.

I watched at his face twisted into a horrible wolf-ish grin as I recognized the large swordsman, Hajime Saito, the Mibu no Okami who worked as a spy and as a personal bodyguard to the woman. Reaching back, he removed my sword from me, as he turned to her.

"Kamiya sama." He pulled me by the hair over to her where he handed the sword over to Myojin Yahiko who took it before he stepped to stand slightly behind Kamiya. I closed my eyes in pain as I grasped Hajime's wrist in vain to loosen his grip on my hair. I could feel the hard grasp of a hand on my chin which was forced upward as I tensed to the touch. There was silence for a moment before a hard-backhanded slap sent me to the floor and out of Hajime's grasp where I lay before she sent a hard kick into my ribs, causing me to curl in on myself.

"Do you think that you can ignore me, you worthless worm? You never listen even if I apply my lessons through my 'gentle' scolding." Kamiya smiled serenely as she crouched down in front of me, petting my hair. Tilting her head to the side, she pinched my cheek hard before continuing on. "You will never listen will you my pet? You don't care that I can provide a better life for you than where you were headed when I 'saved' you, do you? But you can never learn. You never do." She stroked my cheek lightly, as she turned to look up at Hajime who was standing beside her. "I do have one method of teaching that we haven't tried yet. Who do you fear the most in the world? It's not me. I know that you fear me, but who do you really fear? I wonder..."

I looked up at her as I felt fear start to race throughout my body as my gaze shifted unconsciously from Kamiya's face to the wolfish man beside her. Not daring to make a sound in my fear.

"Mhmmm... Hajime, is it?" She grinned wickedly up at the man as I snapped my gaze back to hers, silently pleading. She slid her hand up into my hair where she grasped it, pulling on it as she rose to her feet despite my gasps of pain. She pushed me to land at Hajimes' feet. "Hajime, come. You have earned yourself a reward for your years of service to my family and I. Please enjoy with my blessing." She spoke softly as she gave her blessing to the large man in front of me.

"Thank you Kamiya sama. I will enjoy your precious gift. I will not forget the kindness you are showing to one such as I." Hajime closed his hand into a fist before placing it onto his chest and bowed to her. He then grinned his horrific customary wolf-ish grin down at me before he wound his hand into my hair, pulling me to my feet with a cry of pain and fear.

Cringing, my hands flew back up to my hair in an attempt to alleviate some of the pain that Hajime was causing. I felt the tears that were threatening to overflow build up, but bit down on my lower lip in order to prevent them spilling over.

_I refuse to show that weakness in front of this monster! Sagara sama will come for me... I know he will! He has to!_ I repeated silently in my mind as I was pulled up and over Hajime's shoulder and carried back to the compound that fronted as a dojo, which was the home base of Kamiya's yakuza before Hajime parted ways with the rest of them. He carried me onto his own house with a parting wave to the others along with some passing jests and sniggering.

**Sanosuke's POV:**

**Sitting at an empty table at one of my favorite drinking establishments, I couldn't help but give out a happy sigh as I raised my sakazuki to my lips, draining it. My happiness wasn't long lived though as I spotted a tall, black haired woman making a beeline towards my table. The smile slipped from my face as she stood in front of me.**

**"Sano, may I have a seat?" She gestured to the empty seat across the table from me. I grunted in response, which she took as permission and promptly sat herself down in the chair with a smirk on her face. "I must say, you look positively glowing today my dear. Could you possibly have a new love interest?"**

**"And how exactly is that any of your business?" I growled in her direction.**

**"You know that I only care for your well-being." She murmured softly at me as she grabbed the tokkuri and poured me another sakazuki full of sake.**

**"Oh yeah? And when did that start Megumi?" I barked out a harsh laugh.**

**"I know we haven't been on the best of terms, not since we ended it between us, but I still care about you Sanosuke."**

**"When we ended things?" I started at her incredulously as I took my sakazuki back and sipped at it. "Is that what you told yourself when you left me that day to chase your medical dreams?" I snapped at her, barely holding back in my half-drunk state.**

**"Oh Sanosuke. You knew things wouldn't work out between us. They couldn't have. We are just too different and too stubborn to work otherwise. You know that medicine is the only way I have to make things right again just how your defending the weak and fighting are yours." She spoke softly as she reached out and took my free hand in her warm, petite one. "You and I are meant for different things, but that doesn't mean we can't still be friends, does it?"**

**With a sigh, I put my half empty sakazuki down as I turned my hand over to hold hers within it. "You are right, we can still be friends. You know me, I'm a stubborn block head." I sent a half smile in her direction. "I am happier now than I have ever been."**

**"I knew something good has happened! Tell me, who is she? When can I meet her?" She smiled brightly at me as I felt my face heating up.**

**"Ah...see that's the thing, my little one is not what you'd expect. This person is very special to me." I let me smile grow wider. "I will ask when they would like to meet you. I shouldn't want to chase my future away with my past."**

**Megumi let out a peal of laughter at that as she rose from her seat. "Well in that case, I will wait for now. But I expect to meet your lady love soon!" She grinned at me as she turned to walk away. Grinning to myself, possibly looking the fool, I paid my bill and steered myself towards home, singing to myself softly. My heart felt light as I folded my arms up behind my head, making my way home lazily as I fantasize of being home with my little one in my arms.**

********_"Time, is going by, so much faster than I,_  
And I'm starting to regret not spending all of it with you.  
Now I'm, wondering why, I've kept this bottled inside,  
So I'm starting to regret not telling all of this to you.  
So if I haven't yet, I've gotta let you know... 

********_You're never gonna be alone_  
From this moment on, if you ever feel like letting go,  
I won't let you fall...  
You're never gonna be alone  
I'll hold you 'til the hurt is gone. 

******_And now, as long as I can, I'm holding on with both hands,  
'Cause forever I believe that there's nothing I could need but you,  
So if I haven't yet, I've gotta let you know..."_ **

**I made my way through the streets and alleys in my drunken stupor on my way home, flushing whenever my thoughts strayed towards the beautiful redhead waiting at home for me, grinning my way through my song.**

**That stopped immediately when I rounded the last corner on my way home, seeing a large group of yakuza standing outside and around the front of the house. Slinking back into the shadows, I leered out at what was happening, my heart stopping when I glimpsed my little one being dragged out of the house by his long red hair, struggling and crying out against a tall man wearing a wolf-like grin on his face.**

**I ground my teeth while I fisted my hands. _There isn't anything I could do against so many in such an open area like this. Don't worry little one! I'm going to rescue you. Like hell I'll leave you to the hands of that brute!_**


	5. Part Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS NON-CONSENSUAL ADULT SCENES. PLEASE SKIP TO THE NEXT CHAPTER IF YOU WISH TO SKIP THIS. THANK YOU**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Warnings: Rape, Violence, Swearing, Triggering possibly

**Hajime's POV**

The Wolf of Mibu grinned wickedly as he opened the door to his tiny home, pushing the petite red head through the door onto the tatami covered floor before he slammed it closed to stalk his victim across the room. The smaller man kept scooting away as he looked up at him with a look of absolute terror written across his face until he felt the wall up against his back. Looking around frantically, he turned to launch himself to his feet when Saito reached out, grabbing the long hair and pulled him closer to him, ignoring the shriek that escaped his throat.

Saito chuckled to himself as he pulled Kenshin over to his futon, pushing him onto his back, as he pinned his arms above his head with one of his large hands, straddling him. Gripping Kenshin's face, he forced him to look up at him.

"I know that you have been misbehaving. This is why our kind mistress gave you to me. You are mine now boy. I will train you, and you WILL learn your place or so help me, you will regret it."

Pulling the tie off of his gi, he quickly flipped Kenshin over onto his stomach, pulling his arms behind his back before he could scramble away from him and tied his wrists together. Throwing the loose garment off, he pulled Kenshin up so he was kneeling in front of him as he wrapped his arms around him.

Saito began to lick his way up Kenshin's neck to his jawline before he started to ravish his ear lobe as he untied his gi and pushed his hakama down before turning the smaller man around and pushing him to his back. Kenshin looked up at Saito with tears shining in his eyes.

"Noooo... please no. Don't do this! I'll do anything, but please don't do this!" He begged as Saito finished pulling his hakama off, leaving only his gi covering his arms, spread out on the floor beneath him.

"Now, why would I do that?" Saito asked as he pulled his thighs apart and pushed his knees to his chest. "Now I'm really going to enjoy this!" Saito lined himself up to Kenshin and with one thrust, he was right in to the hilt, surrounded by the smaller man's warmth.

Kenshin let out a shriek at the sudden impalement by the larger man, letting his tears flow as he sobbed. Saito gave him no quarter, no chance to get used to it as he pulled almost all the way out of him only to ram back in. Moaning, Saito continued to thrust into Kenshin, grinning down at his sobbing face.

Kenshin's warmth and tightness was starting to overwhelm him as he started to thrust harder and faster into him. Saito didn't even notice when Kenshin had gone quiet until he had released his legs, and Kenshin had simply let them fall to the floor as Saito grabbed his hips to deepen his thrusts. Grunting, Saito released one of Kenshin's hips to reach up and back hand him across the face.

"Don't you DARE pass out on me you little bitch! You will take this like the bitch ass pansy you are!" Saito growled at Kenshin and slapped him hard enough to cause him to bleed out of the corner of his mouth. The red head looked up at Saito as he panted, pounding into him, before letting his eyes glaze over and stare into space.

Saito shrugged and continued to pound into the semi-unconscious man beneath him as he began to feel a stirring in his lower belly as he slammed hard into him, releasing into him as he did so. He smirked as he pulled out of him, not caring whether or not he was bleeding or hadn't waken yet. He rearranged himself, and left to dig out sake as he laughed to himself.


	6. Part Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Warnings: None
> 
> Japanese Translations and Authors Notes:  
> Oniwabanshu = The Oniwaban or niwaban was a group of onmitsu government-employed undercover agents established by the 8th Tokugawa shōgun, Tokugawa Yoshimune. They were the guards of the Edo castle who keep the security and check every single thing for the sake of the Shogun's safety.  
> Rokudenashi= "bastard" in Japanese  
> Dozo ohairi kudasai = Please come in  
> Arigato = Thank you  
> Domo = Here as in "Here you go"  
> Yakuza = A Japanese style mafia  
> Kyoto = A Southern city that was once Japan's capital city  
> Aizu = A prefecture in Japan  
> Opium = (Called Poppy Tears or lachryma papaveris) It is the dried latex of the opium poppy. It contains approximately 12% of the analgesic alkaloid called morphine, which is now produced chemically to produce Heroin and other synthetic opioids for medicinal use and for the illegal drug trade. The latex also contains the closely related opiates codeine and thebaine and non-analgesic alkaloids such as papaverine and noscapine. The traditional, labor-intensive, method of obtaining the latex is to scratch ("score") the immature seed pods (fruits) by hand; the latex leaks out and dries to a sticky yellowish residue that is later scraped off, and dehydrated. In another word, it is an illegal drug.

I followed the yakuza as they left my home with Kenshin sticking to the shadows, watching as that Wolf of Mibu moved off on his own to only what I could think of as his "home". He pushed Kenshin into the house as I faded into the shadows to figure out what to do next.

About an hour later, I crept back up to the house, easing the door open. I moved into the house silently, and seen the Wolf stretched out on the tatami by a small table littered with sake bottles. Laying on the floor in a broken heap, was my beautiful Kenshin. I rushed over and noticed his clothing scattered all over the room, and the blood that had dried on his thighs. _That rokudenashi!_ I grabbed Kenshin's clothes and hastily redressed him before scooping him up onto my back and rushed out of the house.

I ran through the back alleys, in the shadows, in my panic to escape from the horror of what happened to Kenshin in that house. My heart pounded in its attempt to escape my chest as I shouldered my way into my house, setting Kenshin down long enough to gather up some of our belongs, Kenshin's sakabatou, and my zanbato. I draped Kenshin over my back, with the swords attached to my hips and the bundle of belongings wrapped around Kenshin, helping to hold him to my back.

Slinking out the back way of the house out to a shadowed alley, I ran panting with the swords hitting my legs in the direction of a small restaurant in the outskirts of town which I have frequently visited and rather enjoyed. I knew that the owners there would give us sanctuary and help me get us safely out of the city and away.

I rounded the corner coming out onto a quiet street, facing the restaurant as I paused to catch my breath. Standing out front was a small, young woman who was rather energetically sweeping the front of the restaurant as she hummed to herself. She was wearing a short dark blue kimono that brushed her legs just below her knees with a fuchsia colored obi tied in a large bow at her back. Her head was tilted downwards as she concentrated on her task, a long braid of raven hair trailed down her back.

Turning as she swept, she finally noticed that I was standing there watching her and looked up with a smile, which quickly faded to a look of concern when she noticed Kenshin as she dropped her broom in her rush to me.

"Oh my gosh! What happened?" Her words flooded out of her mouth in a torrent as she looked up into Kenshin's face as his chin rested on my shoulder, his arms hanging limply around my neck. "What's wrong with him?"

"I will explain everything, but I need to get him some place safe first." I looked over at her as I moved towards the restaurant.

"I will fetch the doctor!" She ran off in a hurry as I entered the restaurant, looking around me, I noticed another young woman in a lilac colored kimono with flowers flowing across it gracefully moving towards me.

"Doozo ohairi kudasai." She bowed slightly to me as she swept her arm to indicate that I follow her.

"Arigato" I murmured back to her, grateful that the restaurant was empty of customers as I followed her through a private entrance and down a hallway to a tatami room.

"Dozo" She knelt down and slid the door open for me, gesturing for me to enter first. Once I did, she rose to her feet and followed me in. "Please allow me to spread out a futon for your friend" She moved over to the cupboard, pulling out a futon and set about making it up in the center of the room. "I will fetch you a basin of hot water and some towels to clean him up." She added before nodding in my direction and silently leaving the room, sliding the door closed behind her.

Walking over the futon, I knelt as I gently released Kenshin's legs to quickly grasp his arms before he fell over. Once I had his arms in my grasp, I turned and laid him down gently on the futon. His eyes were glazed over, staring at the ceiling.

A slight knock at the door indicated that the woman had returned. She silently laid out the towels, before turning to me. "I will wait for Makimachi-chan out in the main room to give you some privacy. Please don't hesitate to ask for anything."

"Thank you." I murmured as I heard her slide the door closed behind her. Looking down at Kenshin, my heart shattered as I pulled off his gi and tossed it aside. I winced at the bruises all over his neck, chest, and arms where you could see the finger shapes littered all over his skin.

I set my face into a determinedly as I worked on removing the rest of his clothing, unable to help the auditable gasp that escaped my lips as I pulled his hakama pants off. I hadn't really looked at him when I found him. I didn't see all the blood that now stained his hakama or the dirt that was ground into the numerous bite cuts that he had covering his body. My tears threatened release as I set myself to wiping away the evidence of his rape as gently as I could without even a wince from Kenshin. That lack of acknowledgement was truly heartbreaking.

Once I cleaned him up as best as I could, I tucked him into the blankets of the futon. I sat there for however long it was, just holding his hand softly in mine, murmuring softly to him, when the door was opened once more. The woman from earlier was kneeling at the doorway ushering in Megumi, with Makimachi Misao following closely behind carrying Megumi's various medical supplies.

"Oh ho ho ho! What do we have here? A bit of a guilty conscience?" She grinned at me, covering her mouth with her hand to laugh as she knelt at the opposite side of Kenshin from me as she caught me trying to discretely tucking his hand back into the blankets.

"Shut up you damned fox woman!" I exploded, allowing my rage to spill over. "This isn't a joke! All I want you to do is treat him! That's all I ask of you, not your damned commentary!" Both Megumi and Misao looked at me startled as the woman in the doorway slid the door closed to give us our privacy.

"Alright. Okay Sano. I see that you were cleaning him up. Misao-chan, go fetch me more hot water and towels." She turned serious as she sent the younger girl off, waiting until the door was closed once more before reaching to uncover Kenshin. I grasped her wrist preventing her from pulling the blankets off of him.

"I just want you to know...I did not do this. It was the Kamiya yakuza, not me. She...she handed him over to the Wolf." I growled at her before releasing her wrist as my voice trembled with emotions.

"Oh, I see. He must be one of her whores then." She turned her gaze up at him, with a solemn expression written across her face.

"He is not a whore! You don't know the first thing about him!" I growled, snapping at her. Something clicked for her, a new awareness filled her eyes as she nodded, pulling away the blankets from Kenshin with an auditable gasp of her own.

"Oh Sano..." Was all she said before setting to work to fix the broken man laying before her, only breaking the silence to murmur directions to Misao or I as she worked down his broken body.

It was late into the night by the time she was finished treating him. She swept the sweat off her brow as I pulled on a fresh Kimono onto Kenshin before tucking him into fresh bedding that Misao laid out earlier, who had left earlier after being carried out by the restaurants cook to her bed as she had fallen asleep.

"I can't believe that someone could do this to another person. He obviously fought hard to avoid this, poor man." She gently brushed the hair off of his face as she looked down at him before turning to mix a powdered mixture into a cup of warm water. "I am going to give him something to help him sleep. Opium to be exact. To give him rest without dreams so that his body may heal. Will you hold him up for me?" She asked me softly.

Nodding I moved to the head of Kenshin's futon, my knees on either side of his head as I gently raised him up to a sitting position before settling myself down and leaning him against my chest. I waved Megumi away as I took the cup from her as I cupped Kenshin's chin to gently pour the drink down his throat. He coughed and gagged a bit as he weakly struggled in my arms semi-consciously. Once the cup was empty, I leaned him back against my chest as I wrapped my arms around him, supporting him so as to prevent him from choking on it. His eyelashes fluttered before they dropped down to lay across his cheek, bringing him into a long needed rest.

"You love him." Megumi stated plainly and softly as I jerked, forgetting she was still in the room. I looked away blushing hotly. "How could I not see it? I have known you long enough to know that you would never do anything like this, to this extent, for someone you didn't care strongly for. Who would, considering his ties with the Kamiya yakuza."

"He was an innocent. They abused him, took advantage of him, and he never once fought back. It was like he just accepted it as his fate. I couldn't leave him in that situation, I had to help him. He never deserved any of that." I moved away as I lowered the sleeping Kenshin down onto the futon, looking away as I felt tears escaping down my face as I moved to his side to gently grasp one of his hands. I was so engrossed in Kenshin himself and trying to hold back my tears that I never heard Misao re-enter the room and wrap her slim arms around me.

"You both will need to leave Edo to protect him." She murmured softly in my ear, well aware that Megumi could also hear as well but in a way to prevent anyone else from listening in. "I will help you. I am due to meet up with my fiancé, Shinomori Aoshi, in Kyoto. I will make all the arrangements for you to leave with me. The Oniwabanshu will protect you both."

"The Oniwabanshu? Are you sure about this? This will set them up against the Kamiya yakuza. Can you really promise this for us?" I look back at her startled as she moved to kneel beside me.

"Oh Sano! I know that you deserve your happiness! This man requires safety, you will provide it for him. I'm only working to keep you safe as well. You are one of us remember, the Oniwabanshu protects their own." She took my hands in hers gently as she looked intently and seriously up at me.

"And I will go with you as well. He will need someone with a level head on their shoulders and medical knowledge." Megumi piped up, adding her voice to the discussion. "Besides, I have nothing in Edo for me anyways, my family was from Aizu. I think I would like to return one day and look for my family. But in the meantime I will be the best doctor I can be, and that means looking after my patients. I can't just leave him in your hands to wander lost in the countryside." She smiled at me softly.

'Well, I suppose it's settled then. We're heading to Kyoto."


	7. Part Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kenshin gets treated and escapes are planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it has taken me so long to get posted, but I have been not well the past few months and just recently been discharged from hospital where I was for over a month. I promise to get better at posting! I'm going to post multiple chapters for this story today. 
> 
> Please enjoy!  
> Asheron :)

SANOSUKES POV:

The days prior to our escape were busy ones. At least for Misao and Megumi. Misao who was busy pulling the plans together to leave Edo as Megumi looked after Kenshin while I remained at his side. No one asked me to leave him, as I continued to blame myself for what happened to him. If only I was a better man, I could have prevented all of this. 

By the fourth day, Kenshin was becoming somewhat more aware of what was going on around him, or so Megumi said. She told me that he was reacting to our presence, to the dressing changes. That his pulse would increase, and his blank appearing eyes would start to follow my movements. I couldn't see it. At all. She told me that while he was becoming more aware, that his body is healing, his mind was still traumatized by the incident. She also told me it would take time for his full recovery. I hated seeing him like that.

A day later while I sat at his side, he weakly reached out and grasped my hand in his. I stared down at his pale face in shock before I raised my voice, calling out for Megumi. I heard the pounding of footsteps as the door slid open to the room as Megumi rushed over to Kenshins side as she introduced herself and began her examination of him, asking a lot of questions to him. Kenshin looked over at her then back to me in horror as she talked. I smiled at him, squeezing his hand before tuning into Megumi.

"Can you tell me if anywhere hurts?" Kenshin nodded slowly before looking back over at me.

"This one's heart." Kenshin raised his free hand and laid it on his chest, over his heart. "It hurts here." He spoke softly, as he looked up at me.

"Okay, I think that we can help you with that. Himura san, it will take time, but Sagara-san and I will stay by your side until you are better. Has he told you what will be happening in the next few days?" She watched as he shook his head. "Okay, then I will leave you to explain everything to him then Sano. Please call for me if you need anything alright?" She got to her feet, straightened her kimono, and left the room.

"Kenshin, how would you like to leave Edo? Leave the past behind us and go to Kyoto with me? The arrangements have all been made, but I won't force you to go. The choice is up to you." I watched his face for his reaction as he looked away to struggle to sit up. I assisted him to a comfortable sitting position, tucking his blankets around him, fussing.

"Yes" His voice was soft, like a whisper, but still rang clear in the room causing me to stop what I was doing to look at him. He turned his head to look at me at an equal level as he nodded. "This one will go with you. This one wants to be with you." 

"Kenshin, I promise I will take better care of you. I will make it up to you. I promise." I cupped his face in my hands before lowering my face down to kiss him gently. He didn't do anything for a moment before he responded to the kiss softly. 

"Kenshin, stay by my side." I broke off the kiss, murmuring softly into his ear as I pulled him onto my lap, holding him tightly to me. "I love you little one. I always will. I will spend my life proving that to you, showing it to you." I murmured as I held him to me. 

"I... I love you too Sano." He replied softly as he buried his face into my chest, grasping my gi in his hands tightly. I stilled in shock at his admission. Not only that he admitted he loved me, but he actually referred to himself in the first person. I had never heard him do so. He also used my name. He had also never done that. All I could do was hold him tighter to me as we sat there entwined. 

...The Next Day...

I woke up, looking around as I noticed that once more I had slept in Kenshins room. This time was different though as the petite redhead was wake watching me with a shy smile to his lips. He reached over and cupped my cheek in his small pale hand as he moved closer and softly lay his lips on mine for a chaste kiss before pulling away slowly.

"Good morning Sano." He smiled shyly at me.

"Good morning little one." I wrapped my arms around him holding him tightly to me before releasing him to sit up just as there was a quiet knock on the door. "Come in." I called out as the door slid open to reveal Misao and Megumi. "Little one, this energic young lady is Makimachi Misao, the one responsible for making the plans for our trip. And you remember Megumi from yesterday right?" I indicated each of the women as Misao bounced over to kneel beside Kenshin with food for the two of us.

"Oh, I am so glad you are finally awake now! I have wanted to meet you for a long time now." Misao gushed out rapidly.

"Oh, well thank you Makimachi san. I'm happy to meet you too." 

"Oh no no no no! You simply must call me Misao! I will be your Misao chan, your little sister! And you will be Kenshin oniichan!" She smiled broadly as she watched Kenshin pick at his breakfast. "Just as Sano is also oniichan!"

"Oh Misao, let the poor men eat!" Megumi smiled, batting at Misaos arm lightly. 

"Fine then oneesan." She pouted, crossing her arms.

"Kenshin, I don't know how much you know about the plan, but we will need to disguise you to get you safely out of the city and away. Since you and Sano are obviously already in love like newlyweds, why don't we just go with that?" Startled, Kenshin and I both looked up at Megumi with probably the same shocked expression on both of our faces.

"Whatever do you mean?" I finally stuttered out.

"Well Sano, he can't leave the city without attracting attention, so what better way for him to get safely out of the city than as a blushing bride escorting her husband to a new life...out of the city?" Megumi stated rather matter of fact. Kenshins face exploded in redness, much like my own. "We can get him several pretty kimonos, dress him up as a woman, with his pretty face and slight figure no one would be able to tell the difference. No one would be able to notice. We can do this, and no one would question it as either I or Misao could easily acquire them." Kenshin only nodded silently, staring down at his hands, blushing prettily. 

"Well then it's settled! We'll get the kimonos today and gather up the supplies required. We should be ready to leave by the day after next, at first light." Misao murmured as she counted her fingers, thinking aloud to herself. I just nodded and ate my meal in silence, seeing how as the women didn't require my assistance in getting things done.

...The morning of departure...

Looking over at the small figure standing next to me in the back rooms of the restaurant, I smiled down at him, grasping his hand tightly into my own. Kenshins hair had been pinned it up in elegant, simple twists and curls that fell gracefully down over his head to brush against his shoulders. Misao had picked out a soft blue kimono with breeze blown flower petals across the bottom of it with a light lavender obi tied stylishly at his back and a sturdy pair of sandals attached to his dainty feet. Kenshin looked just as if he was a newly blushing bride, standing there beside him, flushed, in his new clothing. It made it much easier to see his beauty as the clothing and hair helped to bring it out of him. 

The girls were gathering up their goodbyes as we waited when there was a loud commotion at the front of the restaurant. Shouts of angry men, furniture being thrown around, and the cooks yelling back at the intruders to stop what they were doing. I was about to head back into the front when Misao rushed past me, grabbing Kenshin and pulling him along with her as Megumi did the same to me. 

Once outside of the restaurant, the girls lead us into a dark alley, heading away from the restaurant. After running for what felt like forever, we stopped for a quick moment to catch our breath.

"What the hell Megumi? What’s going on?" I panted out as I reassured myself that both my and Kenshins swords were firmly attached to my hips still. 

"Kamiya...that’s what. They have been looking everywhere for the two of you, and word leaked out that you were both at the restaurant. I guess they are trying to search it."

"Good luck with that I'd say!" Misao laughed out. Kenshin looked over to her with his elegant eyebrow raised in question as he was too breathless to ask. "Little do they know; the restaurant is a home base for the Edo branch of the Oniwabansu! They'll never let them have the information they seek!" She grasped the straps of her pack, laughing loudly. Megumi had dropped her pack to the ground and was leaning against a nearby wall catching her breath. Kenshin looked over at her, with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Now little one, don't look like that you hear. They would have come looking sooner or later." I cupped his face in my hands gently. "I told you. I refuse to give my dear beloved "wife" over to them, that I would protect you. Misao has claimed you as family, to the Oniwabansu, there is nothing more important than family. They will do anything to protect it." I spoke softly to him, as I gently rubbed his cheeks with my thumbs. He sighed, looked up at me and smiled to my relief.

"I hate to break up such a beautiful moment Sano, but I think we should get moving out of Edo before they finally realize we aren't there anymore." Megumi said gently as she reached out to grasp Kenshins hand. "Let’s go." She murmured before turning away and leading us through the winding alleys to the outskirts of the city.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> JAPANESE TRANSLATIONS AND AUTHORS NOTES
> 
> Edo = the old name for Tokyo  
> Oniisan = Older brother  
> Oneesan = Older sister  
> Chan = a term of familiarity used usually by younger girls and for women in reference generally. Usually family or close friends.  
> San = another term of familiarity used as a sign of respect like Mr. or Mrs.  
> Oniwabansu = During the Edo period, onmitsu (the term meaning a spy or an undercover detective) acted as secret agents in security and espionage functions, mainly intelligence and information gathering, sometimes with aid of kobushikata, small groups of lower-class agents posing as mobile manual laborers and working under Iga ninja supervisors. The oniwaban followed a strict set of regulations, which, in some cases, forbade them from socializing with the general public.  
> Tokugawa Yoshimune established the Oniwaban as an elite cadre of originally about 20 handpicked onmitsu, providing him with information about daimyo feudal lords and shogunate officials, while also protecting high-ranking officials of the government and acting as security guards in the Edo Castle. They were possibly quartered in the garden of the castle, hence the name.


	8. Part Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Journeys beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N  
> I realize that I made a mistake in geography with the Aizu region being actually northwest of where modern Tokyo is located and my troupe is moving south to Kyoto. I am going to alter Aizu’s location as this story is more of my own twisted version of the universe that these characters originally came from. So please do forgive the mistake on my part and just think of it as “creative allowances”.

SANOSUKE POV:

I couldn't help but to take a deep breath in as we finally left Edo behind us as we travelled along the Tōkaidō Kudari to Kyoto. It was a crowded road, but it was relatively safe with all the other travelers on foot or horse, and the odd palanquin with its elaborate decorations, as if to scream out the wealth of its passenger. I sighed with a contented feeling as I looked down at the petite red head that walked alongside me, whose violet eyes were locked on the dirt of the road giving the impression to those ignorant of the person’s gender could really believe that this person was really my bride. I couldn’t help but to smile knowing that the petite man was really all mine, even though we had to leave everything behind, I felt it was a small price to pay. 

I looked up to keep an eye on Misao who was moving along in a child-like manner, as she appeared to barely contain her excitement over the trip to Kyoto. I looked over to Megumi who was walking slightly ahead of Kenshin and me, with a smirk on my face. She just grinned back at me as she glided up alongside of Misao to get her to calm down as I turned my thoughts to what we’d do for the night. 

_We can’t stay at a shukuba; I don’t know how long we can stay along the road. It may be best to leave the road altogether and strike out alongside it. Maybe we can have Misao check our progress with where the road is? It’s just not safe for Kenshin here._ Catching Megumi’s eye, I nodded towards the side of the road, seeing Megumi nod back in return before turning to speak to Misao; I took Kenshin by the hand as I lead him over to the side of the road to wait on the girls to join us.

Misao runs towards us, running into various people with nary an apology with Megumi following, having to stop to apologize to the disgruntled travelers. Once the four of us are together, we huddle together out of the way of our fellow travelers.

“We are nearly to the Shinagawa-juku; we need to come up with a plan. We won’t get through the Sekisho without being stopped. We’ll probably be caught. We need to go cross country from here. Perhaps travel alongside the road to keep on the right way? What do you think Misao?” I paused to wait on Misao’s reply. 

“That is true. I think it would be safer, also a great deal less crowded to keep to the woods. I like it. We can use the Tokaido road as a guide to keep us on track, while maintaining our travel under cover.” She nodded her head in confirmation before settling into a determined stance. “Well then, follow me and we’ll set off right away.” She marched off the side of the road and into the woods nearby without as much as a backward gaze to see if the others where following her or not. Megumi shrugged her shoulders and simply followed Misao without any qualms as I set Kenshin in front of me to follow the women. 

Hours passed as we trudged our way through the dense woods, moving on without a break to put as much distance between us and Edo. But as we moved on, daylight was fading, and it became necessary to find a spot to build camp for the night. Everyone went about their chores silently, Megumi gathering food, Misao gathering wood to get a fire started, leaving Kenshin and I to set about clearing the area for our bedrolls. It wasn’t long until Megumi had a delicious smelling stew bubbling on a tripod over the fire, based on vegetables and a rabbit that Misao caught while gathering wood. Everyone’s stomachs growled as she served her stew out to everyone who in turn ate it down in silent appreciation before settling down in their bed rolls, with me volunteering to take the first watch. 

As I sat by the warm fire with the women and Kenshin sleeping around the fire with me, I found myself stealing glances over at the small figure sleeping wrapped in blankets beside me. His sleeping face serene as the fire light lit up the locks of hair that had fallen about his head on the ground. I felt a small smile lift my lips as I reached out to brush the hair off of Kenshins face, loving the silky felt of it as it ran through my fingers. Oh how I couldn’t wait to run my hands freely through that silky mane of flame colored hair, to feel it fall as a curtain around me with Kenshin rode me, loving me. Shuddering, I had to push that thought away for the moment, pulling my hand free of the hair to stare into the flames before me as they danced to and fro. 

It wasn’t long before I left my seat to move over to Misao, gently waking her to take over the watch. She sat up stretching and yawning. She watched as I moved to lie down beside Kenshin, taking him into my arms, pulling him to me gently. 

“You really love him don’t you?” She whispered, catching my attention as she tilted her head to the side, curious.

“Of course I do. I won’t have done all this if I didn’t love him. I gave up everything to be with him, so of course I love him.” I grinned over at her as I moved our swords out of the way. “Don’t you feel like you’d move heaven and earth to be with Aoshi?”

“Of course I would! He’s betrothed to me! Why wouldn’t I?” She huffed at me, crossing her arms and looking away.

“My point exactly Misao. My point exactly.” I laughed as the realization dawned on her face and she reddened in embarrassment. I chuckled as I made myself comfortable, settling down to sleep with Kenshin in my arms.  
So our travels continued on the same. We’d keep to the woods during the day, to give us cover during our travel. We’d set up camp, rest, and hit repeat the next day. Day after day it did not seem as though we were making any progress in making our way to Kyoto, to safety for Kenshin and I, to family for Megumi, and Aoshi for Misao. We were all getting testy to each other, tired of eating the same thing day after day and especially tired of sleeping on the hard and unforgiving ground. All of us…except for Kenshin. 

He was the only one who seemed to find the good in anything, from the food, sleep, even trudging over falling logs and tripping over uneven ground. It wasn’t like he was crazy happy about the circumstances, just that he didn’t complain as me and the others did. He just took everything in stride, staying silent. All traits that came from his treatment as a slave to the Kamiya yakuza of cutthroats and murderers. It had to seem better than living under Kamiya Kaoru’s thumb as he had. I often tried to imagine what the petite man beside me had to endure in living as a slave to such a group. Even just thinking of what happened when the Wolf of Mibu removed him from my home. It just fired my blood up to a boiling stage, and didn’t bare thinking on. 

Turning my thoughts to our supply situation, which was starting to turn quite meager; I knew that we would have to stop somewhere to restock our supplies. Shaking my head as I mentally took a tally of our supplies as we sat around a merrily burning fire one evening I turned to Misao, who was adding her blankets onto Megumi, who was shivering in her sleep much as Kenshin was prior to me doing the same.

“Misao, I think we need to find a village or town where we could get supplies, maybe a bath and a soft bed to sleep in for night. What do you think? I’m sure that you ladies and Kenshin would be appreciative of the comforts, even for a single night.”

She looked at me thoughtfully from across the fire, settling down comfortably. “You are right. We really do need to restock our food supplies, fish can only take us so far. And I would love a hot bath and a warm bed for a night. It might just do our spirits some good. I agree, let’s stop for a night. We are about a day to a day and a half day’s travel from the town of Numazu. The Daimyo there encourages a lot of trade with other regions, so they have a large market with goods from all over. I’m sure we could find all we need in their markets as well as an comfortable inn.” 

“Okay, that sounds just what we need. So that’s where we’ll head to then.” I nodded towards her as I started to stroke Kenshins soft hair as the man slept softly beside me. I looked down and smiled fondly at his sweet face, relaxed and innocent in his sleep. He appeared to be a younger man then what he actually was, I think. I didn’t even know his actual age! I filed that away to remember to ask him later. 

“Misao, why don’t you turn in and I will wake you for your watch.” She smiled and nodded towards me before a yawn over took her. She lay down beside Megumi as I turned my attention to watching the flames of the fire, listening for anything odd near us or approaching us. I stayed like that until Misao woke me, and I lay beside Kenshin falling into my own blissful sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Japanese Translations and Authors Notes
> 
> Tōkaidō = The Tōkaidō (East Sea Road) was the most important of the Five Routes of the Edo period, connecting Edo (modern-day Tokyo) to Kyoto in Japan. Unlike the inland and less heavily travelled Nakasendō, the Tōkaidō travelled along the sea coast of eastern Honshū, hence the route's name. The road infrastructure included bridges, river crossings, markers at every ri (3927 metres) and road maintenance as well as paving and roadside trees. Commoners were confined to foot or horses (that had to be changed at every post station) or palanquins for high class travelers. The average traveler could reach Kyoto from Edo in around 12 days.  
> Nobori = during the Edo period it was travelling "up" to Kyoto and after the Meiji Restoration it was "up" to Tokyo instead.  
> Kudari = Edo period it was travelling "down" to Tokyo and after the Meiji Restoration it was "down" to Kyoto  
> Palanquins = were a covered seat usually for one person that consists of an enclosed litter borne on the shoulders of men by the means of poles attached to it. They were something that the high class citizens would ride in during their travels.  
> Shukuba = were post stations offering lodging and other facilities and were established along the road at equal distances apart.  
> Sekisho = checkpoints that helped to control the travelers usually located at natural barriers on the road.  
> Sekisho Tegata (Tegata) = A system of passes, or passports, was put into place to regulate who was permitted to pass through the barriers. Identification papers were known as sekisho tegata, or simply tegata, or sometimes as ôrai kitte (lit. "round trip ticket").  
> -juku = a post station where travelers could stay, they were specially built inns.  
> Shinomori Aoshi = the leader of the Oniwabanshū, is a skilled swordsman who is highly respected by his comrades. His goal is to claim the title of "the strongest" for the pride of the Oniwabanshū. He raised Misao, the granddaughter of the previous okashira under his protection as a member of the Oniwabanshuu. Kenshin saved him from his madness after they deal with a battle. After the battle with Shishio, he spent his time meditating in temple and repents for his sins. All this in the original series of course.  
> Daimyo = the daimyo were the powerful feudal lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings. In the term, "dai" (大?) literally means "large", and "myō" stands for myōden (名田?), meaning private land.


	9. Part Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And camping ensues...

SANOSUKE'S POV:

I leaned back against the trunk of a large old growth tree that was providing the four of us shelter at our campsite. I sighed as I looked out into the dark, threading my fingers through the dark silky soft hair of the usually flame haired beauty sleeping snuggled into my thigh unconsciously. I couldn’t help but think over the past few weeks, of watching the small man curled up beside me as he worked laundry in a yakuza’s courtyard to his fight in the middle of the street, witnessing the resulting beating he endured by the yakuza leader, my stealing him from the yakuza, saving him from the Wolf of Mibu, to now. So much has happened, leading us to flee from Edo with Megumi and Misao, on our way to Kyoto and safety. 

I shifted slightly, jarring the smaller man slightly and waking him. He hasn’t been as forthcoming as he was prior to the Wolf raping him. He’s quieter, even more reserved with everyone but especially me. I have noticed the slight flinches he has had whenever I touched him, no matter how innocent they were. For a moment, his wide violet eyes shot around in alarm as he jolted into a sitting position beside me, his breathes coming in short and rapid. 

“Whoa there Kenshin!” I slowly reached out to him. “Its okay. I’m sorry for waking you.” I grasped his biceps, squeezing them reassuringly. I watched at he turned his wide eyes to me, blinking rapidly, flinching slightly at my touch causing me to quickly release him.

“This one is sorry for disturbing you Sagara-sama.” He dropped his gaze to the ground as he positioned himself beside me on his knees. I really wish he hadn’t regressed into using third person terminology regarding himself again. I sigh softly as I resettled against the tree again.

“Its quite alright little one. Why don’t you settle back down and catch some more sleep? Its still much too early for you to be up yet.” I smiled at him, hoping to set him at ease as I patted the ground beside me.

He fiddled with the helm of his dirty, ragged kimono that he had changed into the first night we spent out of Edo. It had once been a pretty light red, casual kimono that Megumi had bought alongside the beautiful blue bridal kimono he’d worn out on our flight out of Edo. This kimono had a grey under kimono, which had once complimented the red kimono when they were new. Kenshin focused his violet eyes on a loose thread he was fidgeting with. “This one has no words to thank you Sagara-sama, for everything you did to save me.” He spoke softly, a blush dusting his fair cheeks with colour. 

“Oh, little one. Of course, I could never leave you in a situation like that. Not ever!” I turned to face him as I reached out once more, before dropping my hand to my lap. “I love you. Please don’t ever doubt that.” I added softly, watching him. Kenshin looked up at me, before sighing softly and slowly crawling towards me and into my lap. He fisted one of his slender pale hands into the front of my gi as he curled up in my lap. I smiled softly as I gently wrapped my arms around his slight form. 

“Things may not seem great right now, but I promise you they will get better. I will protect you from harm, love you, and show you life can only get better from here. We are together, and we can withstand anything if we do it together.” I murmured softly into his hair as I tucked his head under my chin, kissing the top of his head. “I will get us a nice, safe home where you can feel safe, loved, and free. Maybe we can have a garden, you could even practice your swordsmanship again. It’ll be quiet, secure, and safe. I’ll keep you safe. I love you.” 

I rocked him gently in my arms, murmuring softly to him as I feel his tense small body slowly relax into sleep. His fist does not release its tight hold on my gi as I shift slightly to grab his discarded blanket which I drape over the both of us. Hearing a slight rustling from the other side of the fire, I watch Misao as she quietly sat up from her sleeping spot. 

“Sano.” She says my name softly as she gets up and moves into the dark bush surrounding our campsite, rustling around for a few minutes before returning to the fireside. “I’ll take over watch, why don’t you get some sleep too.” She smiled at me, nodding towards the small man curled in my lap. “I know it has to be wearing you out with caring for him the past week and a half since his attack. You need to look after yourself too. Keep yourself healthy so you can give him the best care possible.” She whispered softly as she added wood to the fire and stoking it up.

“Yea, I think I’ll do just that. Thank you Misao.” I whisper back to her as I feel my eyelids start to droop on me as my body instantly begins to relax into sleep.


	10. Part Ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't have much to say in summary of this chapter but I hope you enjoy it!

SANOSUKE'S POV:

I was startled out of my sleep by the squirming of the small man sleeping in my lap as he was slowly waking. The sun was slowly peeking over the tops of the surrounding trees, causing the mans long lashes to flutter against his cheeks as he moaned softly, opening his large violets eyes. As the eyes focused, his awareness to where he was sitting showed in his face as a blush rose, colouring his pale cheeks. He quickly sat up, laying his hands against my chest as he pushed himself into a more seated position from which he stood up, flustered. 

“Good morning little one.” I smiled up at him as I raised my arms above my head stretching. “How was your sleep?” 

“This one slept well thank you.” He looked away from me as he continued to blush in his embarrassment. 

Chuckling softly to myself, I stood from my spot and continued to stretch as Megumi was stoking the fire to start on breakfast as Misao grumbled, rolling up her bed roll. Kenshin knelt at my feet as he began to pick up our bed roll and gather our things together. 

“If we can keep travelling the way we have been, I’m sure that we can Numazu by noon tomorrow. I can’t lie and say I’m not looking forward to seeing civilization again.” I chuckled rubbing the back of my head. 

“Yes, a hot bath and a soft bed wouldn’t be amiss about now.” Megumi stated as she impaled pieces of meat onto sharpened sticks before she propped them over the flames to cook. “I have been missing the amenities of town living.” She had a Cheshire cat grin on her face as she sat back from the flames, making herself comfortable.

“But you know, we have the story that you two are newlyweds, so Megumi and I must be your sisters. We haven’t had to worry about an in-depth cover story but I think stating that we are your sisters moving with you as well, would explain why we are with you.” Misao stood, placing her belongings to the side, and straightened her clothing before continuing on. “Sorry I just thought what if someone was to ask why newlyweds would have two women travelling with them. Doesn’t make for a very romantic trip.” She laughed. 

“Yea sure, whatever.” I turned away from the camp. “I’m just going to head down to the stream and refill our water sacks.” I turned on my heels, walking past Kenshin where he was now standing and shaking out our bed rolls before rolling them and putting them away. I started to softly whistle to myself as I made my way away from camp to the cool stream I had heard during the night. 

I picked a flat rock, that over hung over the creek where I sat down crossed legged and leaned back on my hands. I tilted my head as I closed my eyes, listening to the breeze that whistled softly through the leaves of the trees lining the stream. It was such a peaceful and serene location. I haven’t been in such a peaceful place in my mind or physically in a very long time. All the recent events seem to fit along with my every day life. The dream of reaching Kyoto, and settling down to a peaceful existence with Kenshin almost seemed too good to be true, but it was something that I was looking forward to. I couldn’t help it, as it would be the first time in my life I could be truly at peace and truly happy.   
_Yes, yes life is good._


	11. Part Eleven

KENSHIN’s POV:

Silently, I pushed myself up closer to Sano as we left our small camp and headed into the town ahead of us for supplies. He’s even promised us a stay at an inn and baths, all luxuries I admit that I surprised he’ll spend on us. The two women walked ahead of us as they chatted together happily looking forward to town. We pushed our way out of the woods and back onto the road, I stumbled over a raised root of a tall tree, only to have Sano catch me before I face-planted onto the ground. I looked up, blushing madly, into those intense dark eyes of his as he wrapped his arms around me to help me back to my feet.

“Thank you Sanosuke.” I murmured softly, blushing, as I stared at my clumsy feet. 

“Aw shucks little one, you know it isn’t anything to help someone so sweet as you.” I looked up as I felt my face flame even more so as he looked down at me and chuckled. “No need to be so shocked that I am willing to help you little one. You more then deserve to be treated gently.” He pulled me closer to him, whispering into my ear for me alone to hear. 

“Thank you all the same.” I stammered as he set me aside from him so that we could continue down the road. He reached down and interlaced our fingers together gently as we walked to catch up to the women who had stopped to wait for us. I could see them smirking away behind their hands as they giggled at us. 

“Oh, shush you two! Misao you’ll be even worse then I’ll ever be once we get to Kyoto and you meet up with your fiancé you know. Then we’ll see who’s laughing!” He grinned at the ladies as they started to walk ahead of us again.

“Oh, you are so right on that Sano! Misao is just going to be sickening to be around don’t you think little Kenshin?” Megumi slid over beside me to whisper loading to me grinning.

“Do be quiet you two! You’ll frighten poor Kenshin away with all your gooey talk.” Misao turned on her head heading towards me. She reached out her hand, pulling Sano’s from mine, to replace with her own small hand. She pulled me ahead to walk with her as she turned her head back to Sano and Megumi. “You two can gossip all you like back there while Kenshin and I discuss more important things.” She put her small nose up in the air and pulled me along faster. Once we were out of earshot of the others, she looked over at me as if she was inspecting me or something. It was rather disconcerting really.

“So Kenshin, just what are your intentions towards Sanosuke?” She looked me in the eye as she bluntly asked. 

“This one doesn’t know what you mean.” I stammered, looking away from her unnerving gaze embarrassed. 

“Oh, I’m sure you know what I mean. Sanosuke uprooted his entire life to go on the run to save you. You must have some kind of intention towards the man.”

“This one didn’t really mean for any of this to happen. This one didn’t want Sanosuke to give up anything. No one needed to save this one.” I stammered as I tried to explain things to her, as I tried to explain I didn’t want that kind and generous man to give up his life for me. I wasn’t worth anything, not like how a great man like Sanosuke was worth. 

“Oh, come on Kenshin. He cares for you. I mean really cares for you. I just don’t want to see him get hurt because you don’t care about him in return.” She turned her look completely serious for the first time since we had met. All I could do was look her in the eye and nod. I hoped that would convince her that I meant no harm to him. “Well, now that’s settled Kenshin, tell me about yourself.” She grinned at me as she seemed to take me at my word.

“This one doesn’t have much to say about oneself.” I muttered bashfully to her as she squeezed my hand.

“That’s nonsense! I don’t believe a word of it. How does one like yourself get tied up with –” She stopped mid-sentence and squealed as Sanosuke had run up behind her and grabbed her from behind, pulling her up into the air.

“That’s enough out of you miss chatterbox!” Sanosuke laughed as he swung her over to set her back onto her feet on his other side. “Kenshin doesn’t need you to natter his ears off.” He laughed again as he laced our fingers together, pulling me closer to him. “I know all I need to about my little one.” He smiled down at me.

SANOSUKE’s POV:

I couldn’t help the smile that shaped itself on my face at the wide-eyed gaze of Kenshin’s violet eyes up at me. I gave his hand a little squeeze and turned my attentions to the ever-increasing crowd that were funneling into the town ahead. The crowds crowded in closer, leaving the ladies to clasp their hands together and rush to keep up with us in the surge of people. Once passed the entrance into the town the crowds eased up as everyone headed off to do their own thing. I looked back at Megumi and indicated that we should head to a nearby bar, and did so on receiving her acknowledging nod in return.

Once we’d all been seated in the bar, a bar maid came and took our orders for food and drink. Kenshin and I sat on one side of the table as the girls sat on the other. Kenshin was gazing around quietly as if he was taking his judgment of the place. I wrapped my left arm around his small body, and pulled him closer into my side, loving the feeling of having him pressed to my body.

“So, what do you ladies think of the town so far?” A young man asked as he came over to the table with the maid bringing us our orders as he served Kenshin, Megumi, and Misao all the while eyeing them. 

_It’s a good thing that Kenshin has such a feminine appearance, it really aides in his disguise._ I eyed the man disgustedly as I wrapped my arm around Kenshin even more so. 

“My wife and sisters are grateful for a chance to have a break from travel.” I stated bluntly to the man, whose gaze widened as he inspected Kenshin like he was some prized meat.

“Mhmm. You have good taste in wife my good man.” He grinned at me, shark like.

“Yes, I do. We’re very happily married.” I hoped that the man would take the hint and back off.

“I take it you are travelling to your new life, with your sisters in tow? That’s strange.” He laughed.

“My sisters are my only family besides my wife, and we wanted to remain together. There’s nothing strange about it, its what families do.” I glared up at him as the maid stood beside him and started to tug on his sleeve.

“We should go back to work now Kai before ma and pa see us loitering about.” The girl said softly.

“Oh fine, what ever. I will be around to act as a guide for you ladies if your old man wants his beauty rest.” He winked at Megumi and Misao before turning to slide his hand down Kenshin’s arm suggestively. “Any time especially for you miss.” He grinned at me before turning to walk back to the bar. 

“Oh, I’ll act as your guide too buddy.” I growled under my breath causing Kenshin to look up at me startled as he softly patted my hand where it rested on his hip.

“It’s okay Sanosuke. This one can protect oneself as well as the ladies.” He spoke gently, to calm my anger I think but it didn’t really help matters. I know he’s a tough swordsman, but it doesn’t mean I want to have him prove it. 

“Any who, now that the entertainments over, why don’t we eat?” Megumi smiled at me before rising her cup of sake.

“Yay! Food!” Misao cheered happily before she started to shovel down her food. 

“Well slow down there champ. There’s plenty to go around.” I smiled at her enthusiasm and took a drink as I watched Kenshin out of the corner of my eye gracefully start eating his rice. “Once we’re done eating, why don’t we find a nice inn, where we all can bath and clean up before we sit down to decide on what supplies we need to replenish.” 

“That’s a promising idea Sano, I personally wish to not carry on in my own filth.” Megumi sighed wistfully. “It’ll be so nice to bath.” She leaned towards me from her seat across from me. “What do we do about Kenshin’s bath? He can’t bath with the men if our plan is to work.” She murmured softly to me. I turned to watch as Kenshin and Misao eat their meals beside us, ignoring our conversation.

“Maybe I should book the bath privately? For Kenshin and I, saying we’re newlyweds or something.” 

“I think that’d work. I don’t see that anyone would question it.” She shrugged her shoulders. “You two do very much for all intense purposes appear to be a happily married couple.” She smiled softly at the two of us. I couldn’t help but to smile embarrassingly back at her before turning my gaze down to Kenshin’s flushed face.

“Yes, we are a happily married couple.” I smirked at poor Kenshin who started to squirm on the bench beside me embarrassed as he ate his meal.


	12. Part Twelve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Big treat ahead! Kenshin and the crew decide to stay at an inn, with private baths and soft beds!

KENSHIN'S POV:

I was impressed by Sanosuke’s ability to talk the inns owner and his wife into letting us use the bath privately, I’m not sure how he accomplished that, and I’m not entirely sure I wanted to know by the grins they kept shooting over to me as I stood off a bit with the ladies.

I followed, along with Sanosuke, Megumi, and Misao, the owners upstairs as they showed us into our individual rooms. Sanosuke gently set our things to the side out of the way as I silently looked around the room as I followed him into it. He was able to get us two side by side rooms, for us and the ladies to use. Ours was on the small side, but more than enough room for our futons to be laid out, a wardrobe to store our belongings in, and with a small table and cozy chairs sitting in front of a window with a quiet view over the inns inner courtyard which was bursting with flowers and greenery. I presume that the ladies room was much the same as ours. 

“I hope that you will be happy with this room sir.” The older gentleman who owned the inn smiled, “When would you like to use the private bath sir?” Sanosuke looked over at me, as if to tell me to answer. Blushing like mad, I looked down at my hands, not knowing what to say or do in the situation. 

“I think that I will let my sisters use the bath first, as it is getting quite late into the evening it is, and I’m sure they would appreciate the chance to rest early. We’ve been travelling quite far, and I’m sure they could use it.” Sanosuke smiled broadly at the man, “That’ll give my wife a chance to get settled in. I’m afraid my wife is a shy one sir, and a later bath with little chance to meet anyone else until she settles in would not be a bad thing.” His eyes lit up with amusement in my direction as the older gentleman headed towards the door. 

“Very well sir. I’ll have my wife send up something light and some of our wonderful wine. It might help settle your wife in.” He winked at Sanosuke who broke out laughing as he left, closing the door gently behind himself. 

I quietly began to set aside the items we needed to inventory before setting out again and put the items we needed for our stay into the wardrobe where we could find easily. I also hid our weapons in the back of the wardrobe, silently hoping the girls did the same as well. It wouldn’t do to have the owners see these and kick us out.

Sanosuke pulled out one of the chairs from by the window and sat watching me as I worked. He kept his deep brown eyes focused on me as if I was the only thing keeping him anchored in this place. His steady gaze had me blushing and nervous as I set about my task, only to be interrupted by a soft knocking at the door. 

“Enter.” Sanosuke’s voice rang out as he got up from his seat and answered the door. Standing there was a middle-aged woman, likely the inn keepers wife, who bustled into the room carrying a tray with various fruits and cheeses on it as well as a bottle of wine. 

“I thought that your wee wife would appreciate sometime light to nibble on.” The lady cheerfully stated as she walked across the room, setting everything down on the table before turning back to face us, me kneeling in front of the wardrobe with our clothing and bedding on the floor around me and Sanosuke still at the doorway. “My! What a beauty you have for a wife sir!” I was startled as the lady came towards me, lowering her hand down to me. “Come my lady, I will send one of the maids to do that and to lay out your futon for you both.” She grasped both of my hands as she smiled at me, pulling me over and gesturing for me to sit in Sanosuke’s vacant chair. Sanosuke left the doorway and came over to the table as he pulled the chair out even farther for me. 

“Yes dearest, please sit. Our hostess is quite right, I am a lucky man.” He smiled gently down at me before turning to the lady. 

“I will send one of the girls up momentarily to help you unpack and get settled in.” She smiled up at him.

“Actually ma’am, can you send one up while we are in the bath to lay our futons out? I can finish unpacking for my wife and let her settle in. Do you think that you could help my sisters in settling in and let them know to use the bath first?” 

“Actually sir, its already done, and I believe that I seen the two young ladies making their way to the bath on my way up here sir. Very happily I might add.” She chuckled softly.

“Well in that case, that’s perfect then.” Sanosuke laughed. “Thank you for thinking ahead like that, I’m most grateful.”

“Oh ‘tis no problem sir. They are very lovely girls, your sister’s sir. Please don’t hesitate to let my husband or I know if you will be needing again thing else.” She left the room after Sanosuke agreed to do so.

“What a lovely lady! Don’t you agree little one?” Sanosuke smiled at me as he went to the wardrobe and finished putting away our belongings.

I couldn’t help but watch him work, his muscles moving under his top reminding me once again of how muscular he was. I couldn’t help getting flushed at the thought of all the times he held me in those strong arms against his broad chest. I couldn’t help the fluttering I felt in my chest or the feeling of my stomach knotting up.


	13. Part Thirteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little alone time for the boys and the enjoyment of a refreshing bath.
> 
> Warnings:   
> There will be gay nearly sex going on in this chapter. You have been warned.

SANOSUKE'S POV:

I was just closing the wardrobe when I could hear Megumi’s musical laughter mingling with Misao’s as they walked past our room to their room beside ours causing me to lift the corners of my lips into a small smile. They sounded completely relaxed and happy. I was feeling so guilty for them being along on our run like they were. Yes, logically Misao had her fiancée in Kyoto, and Megumi wanted to look for her family, but they both went on the run with us suddenly without the chance to wrap up their lives in Edo. I will always feel bad for tearing them from the life I think as I turn to look at Kenshin sitting by the window at the table nibbling on some of the food that the kind innkeeper’s wife sent up to us on our arrival. 

I wish this was all real. I shook my head to rid myself of those thoughts. I have no claim on Kenshin, he was a free man. That was the whole point of this, to give him his freedom back. But I still couldn’t help the small twinge I could feel in my heart as I wished that we were really married, which logically I know couldn’t happen as he is a man, but it was the claim on him that marriage carried I wished that I had. I was not blind. He really was a beautiful man with that long red hair, his fair skin, big bright violet eyes, and how dainty he was. Thinking back when I last held him in my arms, and that kiss we shared, only seemed to cement to my heart how perfect he felt in my arms, and how easily I could love him. I can’t go there. 

“I suppose we better go check out the bath since it sounds like the girls have returned.” I reopened the wardrobe and grabbed out our personal care items out before turning back to Kenshin and held my hand out to him in invitation. He blushed as he rose from his seat and reached out, taking my hand in his as he stepped closer to me.

“Yes, this one would like that.” He murmured softly, looking downwards. 

“You know little one, that we really need to work on how you refer to yourself.” I smiled at him as I led him out of the room down the hallway to the private bath.

It was a lovely bath as it turned out to be a private outdoor one, fed by a natural hot spring with a high privacy fence surrounding it. The inn keepers designed a small garden like space with lots of greenery around the bath itself with a trellis style roof over the bath itself completely covered in green ivy. There was a small dressing room that one needed to go through to reach the bath, and the only way in or out of the space. 

I smiled as we stepped into the room and removed our clothes, folding them neatly and setting them aside after we wrapped luxurious soft towels around our waists. I caught Kenshins eye to see that he was undressed and ready for the bath as well. Nodding to him, I lead the way outside to the bath. 

Dropping my towel onto a bench that was conveniently placed along side the bath, I lowered by body into the bath, sighing contently. Looking up, I noticed Kenshin standing awkwardly wrapping his arms around his chest as he blushed and steadily stared at the ground at his feet.

“Come here little one.” I stretched my hand out for him to take as I watch him fidget with the edge of the towel before removing it and dropping it onto the bench as well. I watched as his blushing moved down his face to his neck and upper chest, in a colour like his hair. “Come here little one and relax.” I smiled gently to him. Nodding, he reached out, with a slightly trembling hand and took mine as he lightly stepping into the steaming water. He allowed me to pull him closer to me before I let him sit down.   
“This one shouldn’t bother you and take up space in this bath.” He muttered under his breath softly.

“Kenshin look at me.” I frown at him as he refuses to do so, stubbornly keeping his gazed locked down at his hands just below the surface of the water. I reach out and grasp his chin in my hand, turning his face towards mine gently. “Why do you think you shouldn’t be here with me? I want you here with me.”

“I’m a lowly slave whose ruined your life. I ruined everything for you in Edo. You should’ve left me for the Hajime-sama to use. Then you would’ve been free.” He murmured with his eyes lowered. 

“What the hell does that mean?!” I exploded in frustration, tightening my grip on his face as his eyes widened in shock. “You know that I care about you! Hell, I’ve already told you I loved you before the Kamiya yakuza stole you away from me! I told you then all that I wanted was for you to stay by my side and you agreed! Why would you think that I wouldn’t want to share a bath with you or that I think any less of you?! Why Kenshin, why?!” My voice deepened in my anger and frustration as I pulled his face even closer to mine as I wrapped my free arm around his waist plastering him to my side tightly. 

“This…this one is sorry Sanosuke san!” He trembled frightenedly in my grasp causing me to release his chin and pull him onto my lap. He squealed in surprise in the change in position, blushing once more.

“Oh, I’m sorry little one. I didn’t mean to frighten you. “I placed only of my hands along his cheek, my thumb gently rubbing along his cheek below his eye as my other hand grasped onto this hip holding him on my lap. “I shouldn’t have raised my voice like that. But I am hurt you still think of me as nothing more then your owner. I love you. I really do. I want you by my side, as my equal and nothing else. Can’t you understand that little one?” I lowered my face to his, capturing his lips with mine softly kissing him. After a few moments, I pulled back to breath, looking him in the eye as a smiled gently at him as he raised one of his hands up to rest softly on my cheek, mimicking my earlier motions. 

“Its okay. Over these past few weeks, this one has also been feeling a love for you grow in my heart as well. This one knows that they wouldn’t been here if not for you Sanosuke san.” He smiled up at me, love shining in his eyes. “I… I will try to be better for you Sanosuke.” He said softly, blushing in his embarrassment. 

“Little one… you… you actually referred to yourself as I!” My eyes widened in realization. Maybe this is the first step in learning he is my equal, learning to refer to himself with such pronouns! “Little one, I love you.” I smiled happily down at him. 

“I… I am happy in the first time since I can remember. This must be this what being in love feels like, this lightness and happiness I feel here.” He drew my hand to his bare chest, laying it against it as I could feel that steady beat it produced. 

“Yes, little one. That is what being in love feels like.” He leaned up and softly kissed me, hesitating only a moment until I responded to it. I changed the angle a bit to deepen the kiss and ran my tongue along his plump bottom lip to beg entrance. He opened his mouth to me, letting me explore it with my tongue as it twisted and swirled around his, raining dominant in the kiss. He moaned in the back of his throat softly, encouraging me to kiss him even as I ran my hands up to his hair, releasing the long locks from the ribbon holding it back. As his hair fell around him, I pulled back smiling as he gasped for breath. I tossed the hair ribbon over to the bench holding our towels before I grasped his hips to raise him up off my lap, turning him to settle down with his knees on either side of my thighs into my lap once more. The position allowing me to see him better and give me a better chance to explore the expanse of fair skin before me.

Kenshin gasped, startled at my movement, before squirming in my lap to get comfortable after I repositioned him. He blushed looking at me with a questioning look in his eyes.  
“I wanted to see you better love.” I smiled at him as he nodded. He raised his hands up to cradle my face gently before he tentatively started a kiss, deepening it on his own. My hands raised up to tangle in the gorgeous mess of hair, as I took over the kiss until he moaned and raised up on his knees slightly so as he was now kissing down on me. I groaned deeply at his movement, moving my hands to trail out of his hair and run softly down his back to grasp his hips, pulling him closer. Our kiss became more frantic, breathless, and lusty as we both were moaning in our throats. My hands slid from his hips to grasp and lightly squeeze his bottom. He broke from the kiss, and lowered himself back to my lap, almost pushing his bottom into my hands more so. 

“You are so beautiful little one. You really are. I’m so lucky to have you.” I murmured as I was getting turned on by the petite body in my lap. I could see he was as well from the squirming and blushing he had been doing so far. I ran the fingers of one of my hands closer to his crack, running my fingers lightly there, down and over his hole as he raised himself up on his knees once more. “We won’t be going all the way today I’m afraid love. I want to ease you into it, to show you how good it can feel.” I whispered huskily into his ear as he held his face alongside the side of mine making him moan. “I want to take my time warming you up the first time we go that far love. But today, today it my treat to you for how far you’ve come love. Let me treat you.” I continued to whisper to him as my fingers continued to lightly run around his hole.

“Please. Sanosuke. Sano please.” He breathlessly muttered in my ear, as I started to lightly rub the rim more. “Touch me Sanosuke. Show me it won’t hurt.” He pulled his face back and looked at me nervously showing his hesitation that stemmed from his time with Hajime. 

“I promise you I would never hurt you like that little one.” I looked him in the eye saying it, as my free hand rose to cup his soft cheek, running my thumb over his plump, swollen bottom lip. “But you will tell me if it does hurt. If its too much, we can stop. I will stop if you tell me to.” He nodded at me as he pushed back against my finger that was still rubbing him, letting the rubbing and the warm water help soften him. He placed his hands on my chest, the small hands smoothing their way down, stopping to lightly pinch my nipples causing me to groan and come down for another kiss, my free hand moving to tightly grasp his hip to keep him still. His hands also moved down my chest further as we kissed, moaning as I deepened it. He slid his hands down reaching for my hardness that was now achingly hard up against my stomach and his own as he lightly ran his fingers over it. I moaned, pulling away from the kiss.

“Little one, you can’t play with me much or this will be over too soon.” I breathlessly stated as I pushed the tip of my finger against his hole. “Do you want me to?” I left the question open, letting his decide what I meant by that. He responded by pushing back against the finger, letting me push it slowly into him as he stilled his movements. “Breath for me baby. You need to breath.” I murmured to him as I stilled my movements, with half my finger buried into his hot body. It was so warm, squeezing me tightly as he muttered a soft yes to me and slowly pushed back against me, taking my finger in fully.

“Sanosuke... it feels so strange.” He gasped out as his hands reached out to grasp my shoulders, squeezing them and laying his forehead against mine. “Does it always feel like this?” His wide, innocent gaze meeting my own gaze.

“Oh, little one, it does get better I promise love.” I slowly started to pull my finger out, before slowly pushing it back in, listening to the soft moan it drew out of him. I thrust my finger in him a few more times before I added another finger into him. He shuddered as I thrust my fingers into him, curling them until I pressed up against something that had him drop his head onto my shoulder and moan deeply. 

“Does that feel good baby?” He moaned even deeper, pushing back against my fingers. 

“Sanosuke… Sano… more! More please!” Listening to him beg to me in such a desperate tone, I took my hand off his hip to wrap around his straining cock, slowly pumping it to match the thrusts I made into his tight hole. He moaned even more so before he wrapped his hands into my hair and kissing me with such desperation. I let him deepen and dominant the kiss while I added a third finger, ensuring to pressing against that spot with every thrust.

“Sano… Sano… “He broke the kiss to moan my name into my ear lustily before he came hard before he dropped against my chest with his arse still up with my fingers buried into it. I pulled them out gently before I helped to settle him down into my lap, laying against my chest. I held him in my arms against my chest and in my lap as his harsh panting breaths fell against one of my nipples hardening it, causing me to moan softly.

“Oh!” He exclaimed, moving as though to sit up. I tightened my hold on him, raising one of my hands to lay alongside his head, pushing it back down to rest above my heart. “You didn’t get any release Sanosuke.”

“Ah that’s fine little one. This was about you, about your pleasure. It’ll go away.” I kissed the top of his head lightly as I stroked his hair.

“Oh. Okay. Are you sure I can’t help you out?” He tilted his head to look up at me. I just shook my head.

“No little one. You look like you’re going to fall asleep and we need to get out of the bath before you do.” I smiled down at the sleepy man in my lap. “Let’s get this hair of yours washed.” I grabbed the shampoo, pouring some into my hand as he dunked his head to wet his hair. I turned him around, so his back was towards me, as I lathered the shampoo into his hair, feeling his body relax against my own. After we rinsed his hair out, I quickly washed my own before we both washed our bodies and got out of the bath.   
“I’m really going to miss such luxury when we are back on the road.” I smiled down at Kenshin as we towelled off. 

“Yes, I think that I will as well.” He smiled back at me as he wrapped his hair into a spare towel to dry and pulled on a light yukata to sleep in. I couldn’t help but smile broadly at the smaller man, who seemed to have had the world taken off his shoulders since we got out of the bath. 

“Well it was quite the bath.” I laughed, grabbing our belongings we headed back to our room. I put things away into the wardrobe while Kenshin sat at the window drying his long locks of hair. I walked over to him, taking the towel I laid it over the back of the other chair. I picked up a hair brush and slowly tamed his hair, before I swiftly braided it and tied it off with his hair ribbon. 

“There. All done, and not too bad if I do say so myself.” I grinned at him as he returned my smile. 

“Thank you Sanosuke.” He smiled softly as he moved over to our double futon, pulling back the blankets and crawled in before he patted the empty space beside him. “Come to bed. We need to get all the sleep we can in a soft, warm bed before we are sleeping outside again.” He grinned up at me as I crawled under the blankets beside him as he turned over, laying with his back towards me. I spooned up behind him, wrapping my arms around his petite body.

“Good night little one.” I murmured sleepily into his ear.


	14. Part Fourteen

KENSHIN's POV:

Waking up in the morning, with a warm body at your back and strong arms wrapped around you is one of the best feelings I have ever experienced. Wiggling around, I turned to lay facing the relaxed, peaceful face of Sanosuke. I watched as his lips parted in his sleep as he exhaled softly, his hair all tousled about wildly on the pillow. He is truly a handsome man. I sighed wistfully as I smiled and brushed some of his soft dark hair off of his face. I think I may be in love with this savior of mine. 

The thought made my heart explode and the butterflies swarm in my stomach at the thought of loving this man. The man who gave up his entire life to save a pathetic wretch like me, never knowing who I am or the things I have done to wind up in such a low position in life. And he will never know. 

I just can’t take the chance that he’ll regret saving me and hate me for disrupting his life like this. I fidgeted with my hands as I frowned while I was thinking to myself. But I know that I can’t hide this forever though. He will eventually find out about the things I’ve done, who I really am. The question is, is it better that he learns this from me or from someone else? I really don’t know. I don’t want to lose him.

Sighing, I rolled over again and sat up, letting the covers of our bed fall to my lap as I raised my arms above my head and arched my back stretching. My bottom was a bit achy, but nothing compared to when I was with the Wolf in Edo. Nothing could compare to that humiliating pain. I will never let something like that happen to me ever again.

I gently got up and out of the futon and walked over to the wardrobe to grab my kimono out so I can start to get dressed. I pulled the garment on, tying my obi at my back before I went back to the wardrobe to pull my brush out. I sat at the small table, facing out the window in our room as I released my long red hair from the braid that Sanosuke put it up in the night previously, combing my fingers through it, smiling softly as I remembered him doing the very same thing the night previously in the onsen. Remembering what we did in there together caused my face to heat up, and I bit my lower lip lightly.

“I’m the only one allowed to bit that gorgeous lip love.” 

I jumped slightly at the deep voice spoken behind me as there was some rustling from the bed clothes. I turned my head slightly to look over my shoulder at the sight of the tall, handsome brunette who was making his way over to me

“Here, let me do it little one.” He stopped beside me, down to kiss me softly. Pulling away slightly, he smiled down at me. “Good morning little one.” He reached out to grab the brush from the table and indicated to me to turn around. I smiled as he gently began to brush my hair, running his fingers through it softly. “I just love your hair. It’s like rubies when you hold them up to the sun. Shiny, silky, and smooth.”

I blushed at his words. “I don’t think my hair is as nice as all that but thank you Sanosuke.”

“You are just bad at accepting compliments little one. I think you need to get used to it, because I will always be showering them upon you.” He laughed softly. I relaxed in my seat, enjoying the pampering I was getting. It was something I always loved, having someone brush my hair out. There was something so fundamentally relaxing about it, but I really can’t explain it any farther. He pulled my hair up and tied it into a loose pony tail with my hair ribbon, kissing the top of my head softly when he was finished as he reached passed me to set the brush down before wrapping his arms around me. I leaned back into his hold, relaxing against his chest as I raised one of my hands to lay on one of his arms as I turned my head to look up at him over my shoulder. He lowered his face down next to mine and I kissed him gently on the cheek as my heart swelled, expanding with the feelings I had growing for this man.

“I think breakfast would be a lovely way to start our morning, and we should gather the girls as well so we can go over what our supplies are looking like.” I murmured softly up to him. 

“I agree.” He straightened and headed over to the wardrobe to pull his clothes out for the day. I couldn’t help but gawk at him as he pulled yukata off, standing in all his nude glory before reaching out for his clothes. He looked over his shoulder to catch me staring at him with a smirk on his face. I could feel the heat building up in my face but I couldn’t pull my eyes away from the sight of his muscular back, the muscles around his shoulders rippling beneath the skin as he reached out for his clothes, his long legs with so much strength in his thighs, and that gorgeous arse of his. Wow. Just wow. He is so amazing. My eyes widened as he exaggerated his movements to show off his muscles even more so, but keeping his back to me, preserving some of the mystery of his body for now. I dropped my eyes to my hands, clasped lightly together in my lap. I could still feel the head in my cheeks from his show. 

“All right little one, I’m ready to go, is my wife as well?” He asked, grinning at me as he stood by the wardrobe holding his hand out to me. 

“Yes, lets go get the girls.” I walked over to meet him, placing my hand in his and giving it a gentle squeeze. He squeezed my hand back in return before releasing it to move over to the door to open it, motioning me to go first. I moved past him into the hallway, stepping towards the girls’ room knocking on their door gently.

“Coming!” Rang out Misaos clear voice as I could hear the rush of footsteps towards the door. She pulled it open, grinning at us in welcome. “Good morning Kenshin!” She threw her arms around me, hugging me tightly to her small body before pulling away to greet Sanosuke. Megumi grinned and shook her head at the girls’ antics.

“You’d think you were away for years the way she was acting.” Megumi’s laughter filled the room, as she made everyone smile at one another. “Good morning to my darling brother and sister in law.” She grinned cheekily at me, as he stood aside to let a couple of men move past us down the hall, slowing to eye me over as my face heated up uncomfortably. I felt as Sanosuke wrapped his arms around me to pull me into his chest, causing me to look up at him to see him glowering down at the men who suddenly hurried off downstairs, Megumi’s laughter trailing after them even louder. I turned around, covering my face with my hands as I leaned into his chest.  
“Megumi stop. Don’t need to make it even more embarrassing you know.” He turned his disapproving gaze at her.

“Oh don’t be such a stick in the mud! Its not like she hasn’t had it happen to her before.” She continued using the female tense, as one could never be sure who was listening, considering the masquerade we were using as a newly wed couple travelling with his sisters. It still made me blush even more so.

“Whatever, lets just head to breakfast. We’re both hungry and we need to figure out what supplies we need before we move on.” Sanosuke released me and turned to lead the way downstairs as the girls and I followed along behind him. We entered into a large room, crowded with the inns guests breaking their fasts and talking amongst themselves. We selected on of the tables in one of the corners, where Sanosuke gestured me to side alongside the wall, with him on the outside on the side of the table we sat at as the girls seated themselves before he waved over one of the servers and ordered our food. 

While we waited, Misao pulled out a sheet of paper where she had listed off the supplies we still had. We quickly added a second list of the food items we needed to stock up on, as well as the general items we needed for our travels. That was decided on just as our food was delivered to us along with cups of tea all around. We tucked into the meal hungrily, savouring the taste of food we didn’t have to cook over a fire ourselves. 

Sanosuke stood, kissing my cheek as he let us know he’ll be back in a few minutes as he had to step out to relieve himself and speak to the inns owners. I smiled up at him sweetly and nodded before we turned back to our tea, as I watched him walk away. There were times I truly felt like we really were a newly wed couple. I relaxed back into my seat, holding the warm cup of tea in my hands enjoying it as Misao was telling me all about her family that we’d be visiting in Kyoto once we arrive there. 

“Look what we have here? Three little birdies without their master fluttering about.” A rough, deep voice interrupted Misao, breaking the peace at our table as we all looked up at the man. He was tall, not as tall as Sanosuke, with a large gut, and a dirty, unkept appearance with two other men similar to him in appearance flanking him on both sides, all with swords hanging at their hips. 

“Please sir, we don’t want any trouble.” I spoke softly at the large man, who merely grinned down at me showing his yellowing, disgusting teeth. 

“Well, I ain’t any trouble am I boys?” He motioned to the other two men, with his head, who also had growing evil grins on their faces as they all stepped closer.

“I don’t care what you want, you need to back off before our brother returns.” Misao pretty much growled out that the man.

“Yea, you can take your little friends away before you continue to foul our air here.” Megumi waved the men off, as their faces flushed in anger.

“You really think you can talk that way to us? Just who do you think you are! You’re just defenceless whores sitting here alone. So I’m going to ask this nicely, just once. You birdies are going to come with us quietly ya? So you don’t disturb these find citizens meals yes?” He glowered down at us.

“Oh hell no we are not.” Misao blurted out, flipping the man off which only served to piss the man off even more so, his face flushing with anger even more so.

“Misao shut up you stupid girl!” Megumi snapped at her as I set my cup down, my hands shaking as I stared up wide eyed at the men. I paled as my memory flashed back to when the Kamiya-gumi caught me the last time and my body started to tremble.

The leader reached out, grasping my upper arm and yanked me out of my seat roughly, causing me to gasp, startled as the two others grabbed and pulled the others up out of their seats as well, raising knives up to their throats. 

The large man pulled me tight to him, his foul body odor willing my senses to still any resistance I could have made as I froze in terror. My heart started to race like mad, as my hearing seemed to stop and everything appeared to be in slow motion as the men pulled us out into the crowded street as no one tried to help us. The man wrapped a grubby hand around my waist, holding onto me painfully tight was he maneuvered our group into one of the nearby alleyways. I didn’t even notice Megumi being pulled along us by the man holding her, a hand tightly grasped over her mouth or that Misao was slumped, seemingly unconscious over the third mans shoulder. 

I moved as if I was a doll on a puppet string, not noticing my surroundings until the man pinned me against the wall, closing in on me as he slammed his mouth on to mine, biting my lower lip painfully hard. It was the stinging pain to my lip that started to bring me out of my trance, as I began to punch out blindly at the man, connecting with the side of his face in my panic causing him to grunt painfully.

“You little bitch! I’ll teach you some manners.” He pulled back and slapped me hard enough that I could feel blood trailing down from my nose as I could hear some people screaming in the distance. My eyes were only for my attacker who grasped both my wrists and pinned them above my head against the wall. The screams got even louder, my heart tried to pound out of my chest even harder, and I squirmed trying to break the mans hold on me. 

I kicked out at him as best as I could, but the kimono restricted my movements to do such a thing. I tossed my head side to side until the man grabbed my chin roughly and slammed my head into the wall at my back, cutting the screams off. My head burst into pain, my movements stilling as I fought to stay conscious. The man slammed my head once more, adding to my dizziness and pain before sloppily kissing me, forcing his tongue into my mouth as I was no longer fighting back.

Suddenly, the mans sloppy, disgusting kisses stopped as his hold on my chin and wrists slackened, he slumping onto my body, sliding it down the wall along with his. That is, before someone grabbed the man and throw him off of me, pulling me into their hard, muscled chest tightly. My eyes squeezed shut and my fight response returned in full force as I flailed out at the person who grasped my wrists, holding them gently.

“Hey, hey little one. Its okay. I’ve got you, your safe now. You’re safe now, I promise.” A man’s deep voice softly repeated over and over as the fight died out of me, relaxing my body. I couldn’t fight sinking into the welcoming darkness as the man pulled me to his chest gently.  
Sanosuke

“Little one, I have to step out for a few moments. I would like to also find our wonderful hosts and ask to keep our rooms for another night. Just relax and finish your tea, and I’ll be back before you know it okay?” I bent down and kissed Kenshins soft cheek. He looked up at me with his beautiful eyes as he smiled. I hummed and left him to the girls and their gossip. Misao started to regale the poor man to tales of her family we are off to Kyoto to meet. I chuckled to myself, heading out into the blinding sunlit morning to find where I could relieve myself.

Once I was finished, I walked over to the rear courtyard where I could here someone chopping wood. Following the sound, I came to a young man at the chopping block, with the male half of the inn’s owners. The older man looks up and smiled at my approach, walking to the stack of firewood and putting it away as I bent down and gathered an armload of the wood and followed him to the stack as well. 

“How does the morning find you and your young wife good sir?” His face lit up with his friendliness. 

“Quite well, thank you. I was hoping that we and my sisters may stay another night?” 

“Yes of course! We’d love to have such lovely young ladies stay, as well as yourself of course.” The man laughed, clapping me on the shoulder. I couldn’t help but join in as well, grinning at the kind older man.

“In that case, may I also once again beg leave to use your onsen for my sisters, as well as privately for my wife and I? She just couldn’t get enough of it.”

“Yes of course we can arrange that for you. Your wife is such a pretty, young thing. You are a very lucky man.”

“Thank you. I feel quite lucky myself. She is certainly well worth it.” I let a sappy grin spread across my face as thoughts of Kenshin ran through my mind.

“Her hair is certainly a shade I have not seen in a long time. That only adds to her beauty and her value that’s for sure.”

“It is a beautiful shade isn’t it? It matches well with her pretty eyes and fair skin.” I smile.

“Well, I best not tie you up here chatting away with an old man when you’ve got a beautiful bride and pretty sisters waiting on your return.” I nodded and waved at the man as I headed off to return inside the inn.

Once I crossed the threshold, I noted the uneasy looks that the patrons were shooting at me. I frowned in confusion until I saw that the corner table was empty. I quickly swept my eyes over the room for them but didn’t see them. I stormed over to a table of middle aged men that were seated near our table.

“Where did my wife and sisters go? You have to have seen them leave.” I asked the men, noting how they were avoiding my gaze. One of the men sighed, looking up at me with regret written across his face.

“I’m sorry young men, but some ruffans came in here to stir up trouble and took them away with them.”

“What?! Did none of you try to help them?” I blurted out angrily.

“No, I didn’t want to bring trouble down on myself.” The man lowered his eyes in what seemed to be embarrassment as I glowered down at him before turning to leave the inn. Standing at the doorway, I looked over the crowds to pick out where they may have gone. There seemed to be a crowd rushing past an alley way in much more of a hurry then it was moving elsewhere, so I struck off in that direction. I could hear the screams from multiple people as I got closer, causing me to pick up my speed to get there.

There were three, fat, dirty thugs there, each struggling with another person it appeared. That’s when I noticed a man pulling up what looked like Megumi’s kimono as I ran up behind him, kicking the man hard in his groin from behind. He released her immediately, dropping to the ground in pain.

“Kenshin! Save Kenshin!” She yelled at me as she pushed off, grabbing a piece of wood from the ground and striking the man holding Misao in the back of his head as I turned towards the third man who was holding a slumped figure against a wall. 

He grasped Kenshin’s wrists in one hand high against the wall, as he smashed his face into the smaller mans. My eyes saw flames as my anger rose up and out of control as I punched the man’s right kidney, causing him to release his hold on Kenshin, slumping against his small body. 

I pulled the man away from him, throwing him to the side before I grasped Kenshin by his hips, pulling him into my arms. His eyes seemed to be staring off somewhere in the distance, as it appeared that he was struggling to maintain his consciousness. As I pulled him to me, he began to blindly fight against my hold on him, and all I could do was try to grasp his wrists gently, to keep him from hurting himself.

“Hey, hey little one. Its okay. I’ve got you, your safe now. You’re safe now, I promise.” I murmured softly to him, repeating it over and over as his small body relaxed. I pulled him closer into my arms as his eye lashes fluttered and finally fell closed as he lost his battle to stay awake. I held him gently in my arms, sliding one of my arms down behind his knees and scooped him up into my arms.

“How is Misao doing Megumi?” I turned to the girls, seeing Megumi had Misao sitting up and was assisting her to her feet with an arm wrapped around her waist.

“What happened to us? Where are we?” Misao asked, raising one hand to hold alongside the side of her head, and wrapping her other arm around Megumi’s waist. 

“We were taken,” She motioned to the groaning men on the ground, “but big brother found us. We’re okay.” She spoke softly to the younger girl. “Let’s go back to the inn so we can have a look at you and Kenshin.” She nodded in my direction.

“Yes, lets head back.” I turned and lead the way out of the alley, back towards the inn where we were greeted at the entrance by the owners who urged the young man from earlier to help get Misao and Kenshin up to our room with the husband going off to get hot water as per Megumi’s directions and the wife for clean linens. 

Once we got into our room, the young man helped Misao into one of the chairs at the small table and spread out our futons while I cradled the still unconscious Kenshin to my chest. I laid Kenshin down gently before pulling the blankets up over him before I settled down on the floor beside him. I pulled one of his hands free from the blankets to hold in one hand and brushed the bangs off his forehead with my free hand while Megumi rushed into our room with her medical supplies followed by the owners and their supplies.  
Megumi ushered the older couple along with the young man out and settled down beside Kenshin after Misao waved her off telling her to start with him. She frowned slightly down at the still unconscious face, as she dipped one of the clean linens into the hot water before wringing it out and gently washing the blood from his face. 

“Why isn’t he awake yet Megumi? What did they do to him?” She paused slightly at my question before sighing and setting the cloth aside.

“I really don’t know why. He went quiet. I mean really quiet. He just went along with them, not struggling or fighting back at all, until we were in the alley. I don’t know what started it, but he just started screaming. I couldn’t see what was happening to him, but it might be worth talking to him about it in the future.” She replied softly before pulling the blanket off Kenshin and doing a quick assessment for any injuries other than those to his face and the back of his head. “I’ll need you to help sit him up, so that I can look at how the back of his head is.”

Nodding, I helped sit him upright, leaning his small body up against my chest with my arms holding him to me as Megumi worked to dress the small wound that was opened on the back of his head from having it smashed into the wall. When she was finished, I laid him back down gently and covered him with the blankets.

“It’s only a matter of time before he wakes up.” She reached over and patted my arm gently before she went over to assess Misao.


	15. Part Fifteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kindness of strangers can be very comforting to Kenshin and the girls after their ordeal, and families are proven to be stronger together than apart.

SANOSUKE

I sat beside that futon, holding Kenshins hand while fighting the urge to return to that alley and do some permanent damage to the thugs who hurt Kenshin and the girls like this. _Those fuckers deserve far more than they got._ I angrily thought to myself, seething due to my inability to have protected those in my care. I looked up from gazing at Kenshins face to watch Megumi work on Misaos own head injury, much to the displeasure voiced by Misao. 

“Would you sit still? The faster you do so, the faster this would be over with!” Megumi growled at the griping girl.

“But it hurts!” Misao grumbled.

“I don’t care, just sit still!”

“Fine. I will try.”

“Thank you.” Megumi finished washing the area on Misaos right temple where she was hit. “You’ll be just fine, I see no reason to worry.” She smiled gently at the girl, patting her shoulder gently. “You’ll be right as rain in no time.” 

“Thank you, Megumi.” Misao smiled at the other woman before turning her gaze down to Kenshin who softly moaned as he started to come around. Megumi came and knelt beside the futon with a fresh damp cloth to gently wipe his face. He turned his face towards me before his lashes fluttered and slowly opened to look up at me with those big violet eyes of his.

“Hey little one. You had us worried there. Are you okay?” I lightly squeezed his small hand as I smiled down at him, brushing his bangs off his forehead.   
“My head hurts.” He softly replied, not taking his eyes off me.

“That’s to be expected Kenshin, that thug slammed your head pretty hard back there.” Megumi motioned for Kenshin to sit up. Moving gently, I got seated behind him and pulled him up into a seated position, holding him so that Megumi could get a look at the back of his head. “Looks good. There is a bump there from where you were hit, which I was worried would open, but it didn’t. It should go down rather quickly by the looks of it. You and Misao may both experience headaches but they shouldn’t last too long.” She smiled at the two of them.

“I am so sorry I didn’t find you all earlier than I did.” I looked away from everyone, unable to meet their eyes. “This all happened because of me. I failed you all.”

“Now you are just being pig headed Sano!” Misao blurted out, causing me to turn my gaze over to her. “Did you know that those thugs were there? Did you know what they’d do?” She glared at me.

“No, I didn’t.”

“Then how the hell would you be at fault for any of this?”

“I still feel terrible about all this.”

“Well don’t. It is not your fault Sanosuke.” Kenshin murmured softly as he reached up and cupped my cheek gently. “This is not your fault at all, if anyone is at fault, it is I. I could have and should have fought them off, but I froze leading to the attack on Megumi and Misao.”

“You are a fighter Kenshin, and a strong one at that. But I refuse to allow you to take blame for that. You were hurt, even after I swore to you, I’d always protect you.” 

“Sanosuke, you can’t take the blame for this, and you did save me. It would’ve been even worse for all of us had you not shown up.”

“Well I think we should let Misao and Kenshin rest for the rest of the day and do our shopping tomorrow.” Megumi got up from her position beside the futon, handing the damp cloth to me. “Come on Misao, lets go back to our room and get you to bed. Sano, I’ll talk to the land lord about getting some food and tea delivered up for you and let them know we’ll need a third night here. Thank the gods that they are such a kind couple.” Megumi helped Misao up from her chair and headed over to the door.

“Thank you, Megumi. I’d appreciate that.” She smiled at me as they left the room, closing the door behind them. 

“Thank you for saving me Sanosuke.” Kenshin murmured softly as he snuggled in closer to my chest.

“You don’t need to thank me for that! Did he hurt you?” 

“He only got as far as to kiss me and no farther. I’m sorry I didn’t stop him. I… I felt like it did with the Wolf and I froze.” He covered his face with his hands and started to shake as he began to cry. “I froze and let him touch me. Let him kiss me.” He sobbed.

“Shh. It’s okay little one. I’m sorry this happened to you. What can I do to fix it? What can I do to help you?” I held him tightly to my chest, gently rocking him.

“Kiss me. Remove him from my body.” Kenshin lowered his hands and looked up at me, tears streaming down his face. He reached up and cupped my face bringing it down to hiS.   
“Kiss me Sanosuke.” He murmured against my lips before pressing his own against them.

I moved one of my hands up to cup the back of his head gently as I moved to deepen the kiss, licking his soft lower lip begging entry.

KENSHIN'S pov

I closed my eyes, moaning as Sanosuke began to deepen the kiss as he cupped the back of my head. I opened my mouth to him when his tongue ran across my lower lip, allowing him entry. The feel of him in my mouth helped to wash away the sensation of that disgusting man, replacing it with the scorching heat of Sano.  
I broke away from the kiss, still cupping his face, looking up at the soft brown eyes looking down at me.

“Thank you, really. You saved me.”

“It was nothing.” Sano looked away from me, his cheeks tinged pink. “We’ll rest today and shop tomorrow if that is okay with you?”

“Yes, whatever you think is best.” I lightly smiled up at him and turned his face back to me. “My head does hurt, as probably does Misaos head. The rest would be wonderful.”

Sanosuke opened his mouth to say something when a light knock sounded from the door. “Come in!” The door opened to reveal the kindly inn owner and his wife, carrying pots of tea, cups, and a variety of cold meats, cheeses, and fresh fruit.

“We thought we’d bring some light and easy to eat foods for yourselves and your sisters.” The wife spoke softly, indicating Megumi and Misao who had followed the older couple into the room. “We thought it’d be better that way your young sister and wife could take their time eating.” She smiled over at me, causing me to blush from my seat in Sano’s lap.  
“Thank you, ma’am. That is greatly appreciated.” Sano smiled up at the older woman. “Thank you both for the kindness and hospitality you have granted us.”

“You are welcome. It is not a hardship for us to bear. Please take your time eating your meal, we also are setting aside the baths for you and your sisters to use privately and don’t think of rushing off right away tomorrow. Please stay until you have all recovered, rested up, and are ready to move on. There is no rush.” The man spoke to Sano, smiling gently before leaving the room with his wife, leaving the four of us alone.


End file.
